Monster's Ball is a 2001 American drama/romance film. It was directed by Marc Forster and written by Milo Addica and Will Rokos . Produced by Lions Gate Films and Lee Daniels Entertainment.

Main cast

• Billy Bob Thornton ... as Hank Grotowski
• Halle Berry ... as Leticia Musgrove
• Sean Combs ... as Lawrence Musgrove
• Coronji Calhoun ... as Tyrell Musgrove
• Heath Ledger ... as Sonny Grotowski
• Peter Boyle ... as Buck Grotowski

Plot summary

Hank Grotowski (Billy Bob Thornton), a widower, is employed as a prison guard . Sonny (Heath Ledger) works alongside his father in the family occupation. Both are unable to relate to women. Hank resides with his racist father, Buck (Peter Boyle) who is retired, sick and home-bound (and has driven his own wife to suicide). Together Hank and Sonny must assist in the execution of convicted murderer Lawrence Musgrove (Sean Combs), an event that has repercussions for both men. Later, Hank meets Leticia Musgrove (Halle Berry), Lawrence's widow, who has been struggling for several years to raise son Tyrell, and to make ends meet. Eventually, with each longing for human connection in their grief, Hank and Leticia reach out for one another.

The controversy within the acclaim

The film won Halle Berry the Academy Award for Best Actress despite its graphic depiction of interracial as well as sexual intercourse. Regarding the latter, this was a rare instance in which the Academy awarded a film with sexually explicit content.

African Americans were deeply split over Berry's winning the Award as well as actor Denzel Washington, who while consistently playing in acceptable and heroic roles, won his Oscar for playing a venal Los Angeles cop in Training Day. Some of these differences are generational , while others are based on African American cultural, political and religious mores. Those viewers did not believe, for example, that Berry was actually performing. Others believed that Berry had actually made love to Thornton, causing them to label her as a whore and as a race traitor to African Americans, particularly to black males. A few ambiguous stills made the Internet rounds to "prove" that the actors were having sexual intercourse. Other African Americans, using biological determinism, suggested that a real black woman--that is, someone who was not biracial--would not authentically represent black people in this manner. Still others felt that Berry's efforts were mercenary, and did not advance the stature or the cause of African American actors in Hollywood. Actress Angela Bassett, who has long been considered a future Oscar pick, reflected black displeasure (and possibly the competitiveness among minority actresses in an already limited field) in a highly publicized Newsweek magazine interview in 2002.

However, during a Princeton University conference celebrating the film Imitation of Life in 2000, Berry indicated that she would no longer limit herself in choosing and playing roles, thus breaking a decades-long expectation among African Americans that black actresses refuse to submit to playing nude roles in films.

"Perhaps one of the most affecting performances of the year was given by a 10-year-old Louisiana fourth-grader who has never acted before or studied the craft," commented Variety reporter Christopher Grove. Indeed, many audiences were particularly moved by--and concerned with--the plight of Coronji Calhoun , the youth who played Tyrell Musgrove, the ill-fated son of Lawrence and Leticia. Coronji was chosen from an open casting call, and was paid the minimum union scale for his work. He also suffered demonstrably from obesity, a malady currently affecting increasing numbers of American children regardless of economic circumstances. Tyrell's chocolate addiction was based on his hunger for his absent father. In an feature interview by iofilm.co.uk columnist Paul Fischer, Berry discussed working with Coronji, including the scene where she as Leticia struck him for hiding candy. "Marc (the director) and I were talking to him, saying this is just a movie, and I kept saying, everything I do and say, it's not real. I really think you're wonderful. And he said, 'Well, whatever you do to me, Halle Berry, it isn't going to be worse than what the kids at school do to me.'" On the official Monster's Ball website, Coronji is described as being a normal child who enjoyed playing basketball and video games and liked to dance.

However, the late Raphael Picaud, the founder of a nonprofit youth fitness organization called Fit4Free sought to exploit Coronji's condition by writing an open letter to the producers of Monster's Ball regarding their use of the youngster. Still others hoped that something more could have been done for the boy by giving him a scholarship or a commemorative trust fund for his work. In the Fischer interview, Berry maintained that the boy "is still part of my life."

As Tyrell, Coronji poignantly brought his own experience about being fat, sensitive and artistic to the screen. It's too early to tell whether Coronji, now in his teens, will return to the screen.

External links

• Official website
• Article describing the Angela Bassett interview in Newsweek
• Interview with Halle Berry regarding her performance as Leticia Musgrove
• Official webpage of conference sponsored by the Program in African American Studies, Princeton University, September 22-23, 2000
• "Whatever Works Best": article by Christopher Grove, about how actors often go with what they know best
• Commentary by Fit4Free founder Raphael Picaud about Coronji Calhoun's performance--and his condition. A link is given to Picaud's letter to the producers of Monster's Ball