Halle Berry and Coronji Calhorn in Monster's ball.

At last we get the chance to see the performance that won Halle Berry an historic Oscar.

Neil Heath

And what a truly remarkable performance it is, and the other performances are also very good.

The Plot
The term 'Monster's Ball' applies to the condemned man's last night, in which the prison guards would grant him a party, to make his last hours as easy as possible.

In this case it's Lawrence Musgrove (Combs, aka P. Diddy) that's awaiting the chair for murdering a policeman.

His wife Leticia (Berry) and his son Tyrell (Calhorn), anxiously wait, as the inevitable is about to happen. Ironically it's Leticia and not Lawrence that seemingly has little to live for.

On the other side of the story Hank Grotowski (Thornton) and his son, Sonny (Ledger), are corrections officers who're in charge of Lawrence's execution.

Hank's been living under the rule of his racist, unforgiving Father (Boyle) for a lifetime, and it's seemingly rubbed off on him, but not on Sonny.

But when tragic events effect both Leticia and Hank, an unlikely relationship (considering their connections to Lawrence Musgrove) ensues and a kind of hope is rekindled.

Review
Monster's Ball is a truly brilliant film. From what seems initially like a depressing film, comes a pathos fuelled work of originality.

Halle Berry is superb as Leticia. She's perfect as the hopeless single parent that's seemingly going nowhere in life and who finds solace in Mr Jack Daniels.

In order to make the film work, Thornton's performance also has to be right, and he doesn't disappoint.

Without saying so, it's apparent from Thornton's performance that by living in the shadow of his abusive Father he's effectively ruined his own life.

Halle Berry plays Leticia Musgrove.

Something that will be made a lot of now and in the future will be the love making scene between Leticia and Hank, it will go down as one of cinema's most dramatic and believable sex scenes.

It says so much, Leticia cries "I want to feel good" - years of disappointment and tragedy bring her ferocious passion, and from here it's evident her life will get better.

It's plot suggests we're not going to be smiling all the way through its duration, but Monster's Ball turns out to be a thoughtful and a strangely warm film, that'll stay with you for days after.