Monster’s Ball (2001)
Coming Out at 22 February 2002 in theaters
Drama, Romance
Monster’s Ball is romantic drama film directed by Marc Forster and written by Milo Addica and Will Rokos, who also appear in the film. It stars Billy Bob Thornton, Heath Ledger, Halle Berry, and Peter Boyle, with Sean Combs, Mos Def, and Coronji Calhoun in supporting roles. Thornton portrays a widowed corrections officer who begins a relationship with a woman (Berry), unaware that she is the widow of a man (Combs) he executed.
Berry received overwhelming acclaim for her performance and won the Academy Award for Best Actress, becoming the first and, as of 2020, only African-American woman to win the award.
Hank Grotowski, a widower, and his son, Sonny, are correctional officers in a prison in Georgia. They reside with Hank’s father, Buck, a bigoted retired correctional officer whose wife (Hank’s mom) died by suicide. Sonny is friends with Cooper brothers Willie and Darryl, who Hank frightens off with a shotgun at the behest of Buck, and is later confronted by their father Ryrus.
Hank, the prison’s deputy warden, will oversee the execution of convicted murderer Lawrence Musgrove. Musgrove, a talented amateur artist, draws a sketch of Sonny. Sonny (a shy and gentle person, as kind to Musgrove as his duties permit) has a brief sexual encounter with a prostitute in a motel then tries to ask her on a dinner date, but she leaves.
Director: Marc Forster
Writers: Milo Addica, Will Rokos
Stars: Billy Bob Thornton, Halle Berry, Taylor Simpson, Heath Ledger, Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, Yasiin Bey (Mos Def)
Cast:
| Billy Bob Thornton | … | Hank Grotowski |
| Taylor Simpson | … | Lucille |
| Gabrielle Witcher | … | Betty |
| Heath Ledger | … | Sonny Grotowski |
| Amber Rules | … | Vera |
| Peter Boyle | … | Buck Grotowski |
| Charles Cowan Jr. | … | Willie Cooper |
| Taylor LaGrange | … | Darryl Cooper |
| Yasiin Bey | … | Ryrus Cooper |
| Anthony Bean | … | Dappa Smith |
| Francine Segal | … | Georgia Ann Paynes |
| John McConnell | … | Harvey Shoonmaker |
| Marcus Lyle Brown | … | Phil Huggins |
| Milo Addica | … | Tommy Roulaine |
| Leah Loftin | … | Booter |
| Halle Berry | … | Leticia Musgrove |
| Coronji Calhoun | … | Tyrell Musgrove |
| Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs | … | Lawrence Musgrove |
| Larry Lee | … | Co #1 |
| Troy Poret | … | Co #2 |
| Paul Smith | … | Co #3 |
| Marshall Cain | … | Correction Officer |
| Will Rokos | … | Warden Velesco |
| Anthony Michael Frederick | … | Billy |
| John Wilmot | … | Minister |
| Dennis Clements | … | Clements |
| Stephanie Claire | … | Nurse |
| James Haven | … | Hospital Guard |
| Ritchie Montgomery | … | Detective |
| Clara Hopkins Daniels | … | Maggie Cooper |
| Carol Sutton | … | Ms. Guillermo |
| Bernard Johnson | … | Deputy Jones |
| Hulon E. Crayton II | … | Orderly |
| Jeanette Kontomitras | … | Tyrell’s School Teacher |
| Earl Maddox | … | Patron |
| Anthony Marble | … | ER Doctor |
Sources: imdb & wikipedia