RottenTomatoes.com
Log In | Register | What is RT?
Found a Bug? Squash It! Report Bugs Here
  • Home
  • Movies
  • DVD
  • Celebrities
  • News
  • Critics
  • Trailers & Pictures
  • CommunityBeta
  • Box Office
  • | In Theaters
  • | Opening
  • | Upcoming
  • | Best Of
  • | Certified Fresh
RT Search Powered by Google
help icon Enhanced RT
searches on Google
Click here to turn on enhanced search results from RT on your Google searches.
 
Movies / Upcoming / Monster's Ball
Monster's Ball

Rate this Movie Help Icon

  • Write a Review
  • Read Reviews
  • Add to List
  • Buy Poster External Icon
  • Visit Official Site External Icon
Bookmark and Share

Monster's Ball (2001)

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
85 %
Tomatometer
Template ImageTemplate Image

How does the Tomatometer work Help Icon

Reviews Counted:141

Fresh:120

Rotten:21

Average Rating:7.4/10

Consensus: Somber and thought provoking, Monster's Ball has great performances all around.

Runtime: 1 hr 53 mins

Genre: Dramas

US Box Office: $31,252,964

Synopsis: MONSTER'S BALL is a hard hitting Southern drama tempered by a story of powerful, life-changing love. It is the story of Hank (Billy Bob Thornton), an embittered prison guard working on Death Row... MONSTER'S BALL is a hard hitting Southern drama tempered by a story of powerful, life-changing love. It is the story of Hank (Billy Bob Thornton), an embittered prison guard working on Death Row who begins an unlikely, but emotionally charged affair with Leticia (Halle Berry), the wife of a man he has just executed. MONSTER'S BALL also features Heath Ledger and Peter Boyle. Boyle plays Hank’s bigoted, aging father, whose hatred seems to have poisoned his entire family as much as the family business, which is working on the prison Death Squad. Ledger plays Hank’s son, who is hell-bent on getting out of the family business. The film is directed by award-winning filmmaker Marc Forster. He was nominated for an IFP/West Spirit Award as Best Low Budget Feature and won the Movado "Someone to Watch" Prize at the 2001 Spirit Awards for his film, "Everything Put Together."

Set in Georgia, MONSTER'S BALL was filmed entirely on location in and around New Orleans, Louisiana and at the notorious Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola (also known as "The Farm").

MONSTER'S BALL is from an original screenplay by Milo Addica and Will Rokos, is produced by Lee Daniels, executive produced by Mark Urman, Mike Paseornek, and co-produced by Milo Addica and Will Rokos. Lions Gate Films will release the film in December, 2001. -- © 2001 Lions Gate Films [More]

Starring: Billy Bob Thornton, Halle Berry, Heath Ledger, Peter Boyle

Starring: Billy Bob Thornton, Halle Berry, Heath Ledger, Peter Boyle, Sean "Puffy" Combs, Mos Def

Director: Marc Forster

Director: Marc Forster
Screenwriter: Milo Addica, Will Rokos
Studio: Lions Gate Films

[See More Credits]

  • Trailers
  • Pictures
1 - 5 of 7

See More Movie Trailers & Pictures

Reviews for Monster's Ball

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by source; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Dark Horizons | comment Comment
06/13/02
Garth Franklin
Garth Franklin
Dark Horizons
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
08/17/02
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Yes, Billy Bob Thornton and Halle Berry give Oscar caliber performances. But so do Peter Boyle and Puff Daddy. When all the performances are excellent, critics' understand it's the direction.

Full Review Source: ABCNEWS.COM | comment Comment
12/27/01
Joel Siegel
Joel Siegel
ABCNEWS.COM

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: About.com | comment Comment
12/17/02
Rebecca Murray
Rebecca Murray
About.com

This complex, rich film dwells in the shades of grey, never offering an easy answer and always leaving us with questions.

Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | comment Comment
02/09/02
Brian Webster
Brian Webster
Apollo Guide

Director Marc Forster shapes his love story like a master potter, forming a story of pure love, untainted by cliché.

Full Review Source: Arizona Daily Star | comment Comment
02/10/02
Phil Villarreal
Phil Villarreal
Arizona Daily Star

A textbook example of fearless filmmaking, exhibiting a brand of gritty realism that's hard to watch but impossible to ignore.

Full Review Source: Arizona Republic | comment Comment
03/04/02
Bill Muller
Bill Muller
Arizona Republic

less a love story than a movie about love — about how it leeches into disparate hearts and desperate circumstances, about raw and unlikely and redemptive it can be

Full Review Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette | comment Comment
07/26/02
Philip Martin
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

As oddly comforting as it is unsettling, Monster's Ball honors novelist E.M. Forster's famed dictum: 'Only Connect.'

Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution | comment Comment
02/07/02
Eleanor Ringel Gillespie
Eleanor Ringel Gillespie
Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The kind of quiet, effective film that burrows under the viewer's skin and takes root before you've had a chance to realize that it's permeated your constitutional makeup.

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
02/10/02
Marjorie Baumgarten
Marjorie Baumgarten
Austin Chronicle

Intimate, gruelling, and in some strange way, uplifting.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
02/17/02
Ben Falk
Ben Falk
BBC

While Billy Bob transforms terrifically from a bigot to a noble man in a biracial relationship, Halle is just plain brilliant as a poor and exhausted woman who finally reaches her breaking point.

Full Review Source: BeatBoxBetty.com | comment Comment
03/07/02
BeatBoxBetty.com
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Big Picture Big Sound | comment Comment
07/14/07
Joe Lozito
Joe Lozito
Big Picture Big Sound
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: BlackFilm.com | comment Comment
05/13/03
Wilson Morales
Wilson Morales
BlackFilm.com

The best thing Marc Forster's direction does is take these characters through their experiences at a convincingly naturalistic respiratory rate...

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
02/08/02
Jay Carr
Jay Carr
Boston Globe
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
03/24/02
Boston Phoenix
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Well-told, sad and funny and ultimately uplifting.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
11/29/01
Bridget Byrne
Bridget Byrne
Boxoffice Magazine

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
10/15/09
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader

The movie has the complexity of great fiction, and requires our empathy as we interpret the decisions that are made.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
02/01/02
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A serious movie made by seriously talented people, and I never quite came 'round to it.

Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment 1 Comment
07/20/02
Mark Caro
Mark Caro
Chicago Tribune
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by source; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 >> >|
all

Latest News for Monster's Ball

October 31, 2008: UK Tomatometer Preview: Quantum Of Solace - Is the New Bond Shaken or Stirred?
Today is Halloween, traditionally a big day for horror movies, but for 2008 this long standing tradition has been usurped by the return of a bigger, better, badder and more... More...

June 20, 2007: The Next "Bond" Director Has Been Chosen
And it's certainly nobody you'd expect! More...

May 21, 2007: Four Directors Up for the Next "Bond" Flick?
Curious to know who'll be directing the next James Bond flick? Join the club. One source has a short list of potential helmers, all of whom would be pretty ... distinctive. More...

November 09, 2006: Box Office Guru Preview: New Pics Challenge "Borat's" Mandate
This weekend, multiplexes hope to cram in lots of moviegoers thanks to a wide selection of new films. Six movies open or expand nationally on Friday making for what will be one... More...

See All

More Movies

Coming Soon in Australia
Tomatometer Percentage Movie Date

80% 80% Sherlock Holmes 26/12
39% 39% The Lovely Bones 26/12
100% 100% The French Kissers 26/12
83% 83% Bright Star 26/12
— Nowhere Boy 26/12
— Alvin and the Chipmunk… 26/12
— Did You Hear About the… 26/12
05% 05% Old Dogs 26/12

What’s Hot On RT

Avatar

Avatar

Watch six new clips from the sci-fi epic

20 Must-See Films

20 Must-See Films

Your essential Summer Movie Guide

Sam Worthington

Sam Worthington

We talk with Avatar's action star

Hot Nine Clips

Hot Nine Clips

New videos from the upcoming all-star musical

Other News

  • Top Stories
  • Popular
  • Interviews
 
 

Comments

 
 
Top Stories
Headlines Comments
  
  • Trailer Bulletin: Robin Hood Source: ComingSoon.net
44
  • Mel Gibson Plans a Mexican Vacation Source: Variety
6
  • New Iron Man 2 Clue Posted Source: Screen Rant
24
  • Gibson and DiCaprio are Going Norse Source: HitFix
51
  • Lord of the Rings Coming to Blu-ray April 6 Source: Hollywood Reporter
8
  • Tobey Maguire Rumored for The Hobbit Source: Latino Review
42
  • Mila Kunis Talks Aronofsky's Black Swan Source: Collider.com
12
  • Visiting the Set of The Sorcerer's Apprentice Source: ComingSoon.net
7
  • Weekly Ketchup: James Cameron Plans a Fantastic Voyage
96
  • James Cameron Talks Avatar Sequels Source: Collider.com
8
Popular
Headlines Comments
  
  • Tomatometer Watch: Will Avatar Live Up To The Hype?
236
  • Total Recall: Keith David's Best Movies
82
  • Box Office Guru Wrapup: Girlpower Rules Again with Princess at #1
69
  • Awards Tour 2009: Golden Globe Noms Here!
60
  • Awards Tour 2009: Inglourious Basterds Lead Critics Choice Noms
42
  • The Gimmicks That Changed Cinema: Part 1
37
  • Awards Tour 2009: Avatar Best Picture at NYFCO!
36
  • Weekly Ketchup: James Cameron Plans a Fantastic Voyage
32
  • The Effects of Where the Wild Things Are
30
  • Robert Downey Jr. talks Sherlock Holmes & Iron Man 2 - RT Interview
21
Interviews
Headlines Comments
  
  • Robert Downey Jr. talks Sherlock Holmes & Iron Man 2 - RT Interview
21
  • Director Ruben Fleischer Talks Zombieland
2
  • "I Don't Hate Women": Lars von Trier on Antichrist
17
  • Eric Bana talks Love the Beast - RT Interview
12
  • Fight Club Sound Designer Reflects on Film's 10th Anniversary
23
  • James Schamus talks Taking Woodstock - RT Interview
8
  • RT on DVD: Wassup, Bruno
3
  • Scott Hicks Talks The Boys Are Back
0
  • John Hurt Talks Harry Potter, Quentin Crisp and Alien - The RT Interview
15
  • Richard Kelly chats about The Box
2
 
 

Sponsored Links

Around The Network

  • Monster's Ball at Rotten Tomatoes
  • Monster's Ball at IGN
  • Monster's Ball at AskMen

Fresh Links

Featured
Virtuoso Vistas of The Lovely Bones
Virtuoso Vistas of The Lovely Bones External Link

Techland examines the visual splendor of Peter Jackson's upcoming film.

Animated Oscar?
Animated Oscar? External Link

Hollywood.com ponders whether or not an animated film could win Best Picture.

Follow Rotten Tomatoes on Twitter
Follow Rotten Tomatoes on Twitter External Link

Get all the latest movie updates, reviews, interviews and features here.

Competitions
Win Alvin and the Chipmunks 2 prize packs
Win Alvin and the Chipmunks 2 prize packs External Link

We're giving away a bunch of stuff from the upcoming Squeakquel.

Win Inglourious Basterds DVDs
Win Inglourious Basterds DVDs External Link

We're giving away five copies of Tarantino's hit, with thanks to Universal. That's a bingo.

 
 
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Celebs List| Newsletter
IGN Logo

IGN.com | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Planets | Vaults | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | Direct2Drive | Green Pixels


By continuing past this page, and by the continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2009, IGN Entertainment, Inc. About IGN | Support | Advertise | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! IGN RSS Feeds
IGN's enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.