Monster's Ball
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Marc Forster
Billy Bob Thornton
Taylor Simpson
Gabrielle Witcher
Heath Ledger
Amber Rules
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
In rural Georgia, taciturn Hank Grotowski works as a corrections officer at the state penitentiary, and lives with his racist, invalid father Buck and emotionally troubled grown son Sonny. One morning, Buck cuts out a newspaper article about the upcoming execution of African-American prisoner Lawrence Musgrove and adds it to his scrapbook, which contains articles about his time as a prison guard. Buck then complains about the presence of Willie and Darryl, the children of the Grotowskis' black neighbor, Ryrus Cooper, and Hank aims a shotgun blast over the boys's heads to frighten them away. As he is about to drive to work, Hank is reprimanded by Ryrus, who states that the children are friends with the unprejudiced Sonny, but Hank is unmoved. At the prison, Hank and his team, which includes Sonny, prepare for the execution, and Hank berates Sonny after he makes a mistake. The guards then take Sonny out for a drink, and Hank explains that the experienced officers always host a party for a guard working his first execution, and that it is called a "monster's ball." Hank again cautions his son to be careful, and tries to convey the importance of treating a prisoner with respect during his final hours. Meanwhile, Lawrence is visited by his wife Leticia and young son Tyrell, who has inherited his father's artistic talent. Leticia, weary of visiting Lawrence on death row and of the poverty in which she and Tyrell live, is resigned to Lawrence's death, but Tyrell is devastated by the thought of never seeing his father again. Lawrence promises to call Tyrell before he dies, but before the execution, Hank informs Lawrence that Warden Velasco has decided not to allow him the privilege of a last phone call. As Sonny and Hank sit with Lawrence in an isolated area of the prison, Lawrence sketches a portrait of Sonny. Sonny is deeply moved by the portrait, and when his emotions threaten to unbalance Lawrence's calm acceptance of his fate, Hank pushes Sonny aside and helps Lawrence to regain control of himself. While Lawrence then sketches Hank, Leticia and Tyrell sit at home, awaiting his call. When Leticia leaves to purchase some whiskey, the overweight Tyrell eats a candy bar from his hidden stash. Upon her return, Letitica finds chocolate on Tyrell's face and verbally humiliates the boy while slapping him. At the prison, as Hank and Sonny escort Lawrence on his "last walk," Sonny, unable to bear the stress, suddenly stops to vomit. Another guard takes Sonny's place and helps Hank to strap Lawrence into the electric chair. After the execution, Hank confronts Sonny and viciously attacks him for failing in his duty. Two guards pull them apart, and the following morning, Hank bursts into Sonny's bedroom and orders him to move out. Sonny pulls a pistol on Hank, however, and makes him go to the living room, where Buck is sitting. After Hank coldly states that he hates Sonny, Sonny replies that he has always loved him, then shoots and kills himself. On the same day that Hank and Buck bury Sonny in the back yard, next to the graves of their respective wives, Leticia is fired from her job. After the funeral, Hank collects Sonny's things, puts them in his room and padlocks the door shut, although he carefully preserves the bullet that killed Sonny after prying it out of a chair. Later, Hank goes to his favorite diner for his usual late-night snack of coffee and chocolate ice cream, and meets Leticia, who has just been hired. The next day, Hank resigns from the prison and burns his uniform, despite Buck's accusation that he is a quitter like his mother, who committed suicide. Later, Hank meets gas station owner Dennis Clements to discuss buying the station. As he is driving home in rainstorm, Hank stops to help Leticia and Tyrell, who has been hit by an automobile. Hank rushes the boy to the hospital, and later is asked by a policeman to take the hysterical Leticia home after Tyrell dies. One afternoon, Hank surprises Ryrus by quietly accepting the Cooper children's condolences about Sonny's death. Hank then sees Leticia walking to work and gives her a ride to the diner, where he surprises her by handing her a generous tip. Hank buys Clements' gas station and ignores the derisive Buck, who advises him to stick to being a prison guard. The next time Hank goes to the diner, he unexpectedly sits at the counter and talks with Leticia while eating his ice cream. He offers to take her home, and at Leticia's, the couple drink whiskey and discuss their sons. When Leticia shows Hank Lawrence and Tyrell's drawings, he realizes who she is, but does not reveal his own connection to Lawrence. As Leticia becomes drunk and overwhelmed by grief, she begs Hank to make her feel good, and Hank, desperately needing "to feel again," feverishly has sex with her. When Hank returns home in the morning, he discovers that Buck fell while trying to bathe, and the older man laments his increasing fraility. Hank then takes Sonny's truck to the Coopers' and asks Ryrus to repair it, and the boys to wash it. Leticia at first refuses when Hank offers the truck to her, but he insists that it is what his son would have wanted. The couple become more deeply involved, and one day, Leticia sells her wedding ring to buy Hank a new cowboy hat. When she drops the hat off at Hank's, however, she meets Buck, and his virulently racist remarks send her fleeing from the house. Hank, who was with Ryrus, walks up as Leticia is leaving, and, knowing that his father must have upset her, begs her to stay, but she drives away. Unable to continue living with Buck, Hank puts him in a nursing home, then systematically cleans and repaints his house to make it brighter. Although Leticia refuses to talk to Hank, even when he tells her that he has sent Buck away, Hank renames the gas station "Leticia's" and tells Ryrus that she is his girl friend. Soon after, Leticia is evicted, and as she sits on the lawn with her belongings, Hank drives up and helps her move into his home. Hank puts Tyrell's possessions in Sonny's room, and although he offers Leticia her own bedroom, she declares that she will be more comfortable sleeping with him. Hank promises to take care of her, and after tenderly making love to her, leaves to buy ice cream. While Hank is gone, Leticia wanders up to Sonny's room and there finds the sketches of him and Hank drawn by Lawrence. Finally realizing who Hank is, Leticia cries out in pain. Upon Hank's return, Leticia mutely sits with him on the back steps, from which she can see the graves in the yard. Hank gently feeds her some ice cream and mentions that he stopped at "their" station on the way home. When Hank muses that they are "going to be all right," Leticia realizes that, together, they can surmount the grief in their lives and remains with him, staring up at the stars.
Director
Marc Forster
Cast
Billy Bob Thornton
Taylor Simpson
Gabrielle Witcher
Heath Ledger
Amber Rules
Peter Boyle
Charles Cowan Jr.
Taylor Lagrange
Mos Def
Anthony Bean
Francine Segal
John Mcconnell
Marcus Lyle Brown
Milo Addica
Leah Loftin
Halle Berry
Coronji Calhoun
Sean Combs
Larry Lee
Troy Poret
Paul Smith
Marshall Cain
Will Rokos
Anthony Michael Frederick
John Wilmot
Dennis Clements
Stephanie Claire
Ritchie Montgomery
Clara Daniels
Carol Sutton
Bernard Johnson
Crew
Milo Addica
Milo Addica
Steve Apostolima
Jimmy 'coach' Armstrong
Asche And Spencer
Rick Ashe
Brian Badie
Peter Bankins
Brian Bankston
Edward Bankston
Kerry Barden
Bob Bates
Paul Beard
Mark Bennett
Susie Blanchard
Michael Blum
Cheech Bradford
Tessa Brophy
Weldon Brown
Zane Bruce
Jeanne Louise Bulliard
Michael Burns
Mary Burton
Pat Cabral
Buddy Carr
Donna Chance
Bartou Chandler
W. "butch" Chaney
Carla Chao
Gilly Charbonnet
Matt Chessé
Sam Chwat
Joseph L. Coble
Nelson P. Conino
Lisa Cortes
Danny Cosmo
Chris Cowart
Wendy Cutler
Lee Daniels
G. "opey" Davis
Rick Davis
Bob Demea
Sterfon Demings
Al Dickerson
Jake Donahoe
Colleen Duffy
Bob Dylan
Lynne Eagan
Joe Earle
Christopher Eckstrom
Mary Frances Elgin
Dana Embree
Lisle Engle
David Erwin
Caroline Eselin
Ryan Eustis
Jerry Everett
Frank Fleming
Daniel Fox
Eddie Frierson
Don Fullilove
Sean Funnegan
Elisa Gabrella
Matt Gaumer
Holly Goline
Jason Goodowens
Allison Gordin
Caleb Guillote
Harry Harris
Michael Hatcher
Jeffrey Haupt
Davis Hawn
Kristin Hensley
Kristin Hensley
Billy Hershey
Win Hershy
Jeff Heusser
John Hiatt
Joel C. High
John Homesley
Billy Hopkins
Jerry Jackson
Jerry Jacobs
Jeremy Jaklevick
Francis James
Francis James
Meagan James
The Jayhawks
Trevor Jolly
Richard Jordan
Michael Kamper
Alissa Miller Kantrow
Daniel Katz
Victor Keatley
Monroe Kelly
Brian Kingman
Eric Kopeloff
Bill "duke" Kuhn
Rick Landry
Rosemary Lara
Leo Lauricella
Nikki Lawder
Paul T. Leblanc
Vince Leblanc
Betty Lee
Danny Lee
Michael Lerman
Wayne Levin
Donna Lyn Levy
Genevieve Leyh
Kelly Lofstrom
Diane Lucas
Ian Lynch
Ian Lynch
Daniel Macarthur
Mike Mahone
Larry P. Manke
Jennifer Mann
Laurie May
David Ross Mccarty
Jessica Siefert Mccarty
Caitlin Mckeena
Meagan Mclaughlin
Mike Mclaughlin
Robert Melnick
Curtis A. Miller
Mark Miller
Dennis Monk
Glenn T. Morgan
Frank Moshier
Harry Muller
Peter Kerr 'p.k.' Munson
Hugh Murphy
David Nami
William A. Nami
Danny Nick
Jill Olson
Rob Ortiz
Glen Palmisano
Paul Pape
Chewie Pappas
Jeff Joon Park
Michael Paseornek
John Patterson
Carl Pedregal
Eric Pierson
Tonia Pound
David J. Prestenback
Jeff Pullman
Steve Ralston
Stuart Rankine
Leonard Reynolds
Will Rokos
Will Rokos
James Roque Jr.
Terence Rosemore
Brian Ruberg
David Ruth
Joseph Sabella
Roberto Schaefer
Kirstin Scott
Gerard Sellers
Al Sens
Severin Serafini
Sherman Shelton
Russell Slaughter
Donna Sloan
Joe Smith
Mike Smith
Suzanne Smith
Leonard Spears
Giselle Spence
Barry Steadman
Greg Steele
Pat Stoltz
George 'chuck' Stringer
Robbie Stubblefield
Cynthia Tanner
Michael Taylor
Arnold Turner
Joe Uddo
Marco Umana
Marco Umana
Stephanie Urcheck
Mark Urman
Lynda Vincent
Sharon Vise
Steve Walters
Charlyn Ware
Ralph Watson
Kim Waugh
Drew Webster
Don Wegner
Jean Wells
Gayle Wesley
Wise Wolfe
Joani Yarbrough
Steve Zeigler
Film Details
Technical Specs
Award Wins
Best Actress
Best Actress
Award Nominations
Best Original Screenplay
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The film's opening and closing cast credits differ slightly in order. According to a August 12, 2001 Los Angeles Times article, the film's title is based on a medieval English tradition, by which prisoners awaiting execution were called "monsters" and jailers would hold a "monsters' ball" the night before the prisoners were put to death.
According to the film's presskit, when the film's script was completed in 1995, writers Milo Addica and Will Rokos originally considered casting actors Robert De Niro and Tommy Lee Jones and hiring either director Sean Penn or Oliver Stone, but their respective salary requirements exceeded the film's budget. According to a June 1, 1998 Daily Variety article, Eric Cahan and Happy Walters were considered for producers, and a March 30, 1999 Hollywood Reporter article states that video and commercial director Sam Bayer was to make his feature-directing debut helming Monster's Ball. Subsequently, an October 8, 1999 Hollywood Reporter article reports that Vondie Curtis Hall would direct and Eric Cahan and Lawrence Bender would produce the film. A August 12, 2001 Los Angeles Times article states that Addica and Rokos were in negotiations with Atlas Entertainment and then Fine Line Features to produce the film.
Information in the presskit explains that Lions Gate Films finally committed to produce the film once Billy Bob Thorton was cast in the lead, at a fraction of his regular salary. At that time, Wes Bentley was to co-star and, according to a March 21, 2001 Daily Variety article, Bentley's manager, Lee Daniels, was set to produce the film. However, a May 10, 2001 Daily Variety articles states that Bentley left the production for unspecified reasons and was replaced by Heath Ledger, while Daniels remained as producer.
Monster's Ball marked the feature film debut of 15-year-old actor Coronji Calhoun. The cast also included famous rap music artist and producer Sean "P. Diddy" Combs. The presskit states that Louisiana State Penitentiary warden Burl Cain allowed for inmates to be hired as extras in the film. Screenwriters Rokos and Addica also had roles, as a prison warden and a guard, respectively.
Although the script was set in a fictional Georgia state penitentiary, according to the presskit, the film was shot on location in the vicinity of New Orleans, Louisiana and on the grounds and in the cellblocks and death house of the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, also known as "The Farm." The Academy-Award-winning documentary The Farm: Angola, USA (1998) and the Academy-Award-winning feature film Dead Man Walking (1995) were also shot at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola. Included in the end credits' "special thanks" list were the city of Kenner, the Kenner Fire Department and the Laplace Volunteer Fire Department; however, it is unknown whether these cities were additional filming locations.
Monster's Ball received the National Board Review awards for Best Actor (Thornton) and Best Actress (Halle Berry), and was nominated by AFI for Movie of the Year. In addition to receiving an AFI Female Actor of the Year nomination, Berry was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture, Drama. According to a December 6, 2001 Hollywood Reporter news item, the soundtrack for Monster's Ball was the first release of Lion Gates Films newly formed recording label, Lions Gate Records. Berry received an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in the film, the first African-American actress to be so honored. The film was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Screenplay written directly for the screen.
Miscellaneous Notes
Nominated for the 2001 award for Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen from the Writers Guild of America (WGA).
Nominated for two awards, including Movie of the Year and Actor of the Year - Female (Halle Berry), at the 2001 American Film Institute (AFI) Awards.
Voted one of the 10 best films of 2001 by the American Film Institute (AFI).
Winner of the 2001 Golden Satellite Award for Best Original Screenplay from the International Press Academy.
Winner of the 2001 Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Award for Best Actress (Halle Berry).
Winner of the Silver Bear for Best Actress (Halle Berry) at the 2002 Berlin International Film Fetival.
Winner of two 2001 awards, including Best Actor (Billy Bob Thornton) and Best Actress (Halle Berry), from the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures.
Expanded Release in United States February 8, 2002
Released in United States February 2002
Released in United States November 2001
Released in United States on Video June 11, 2002
Released in United States Winter December 26, 2001
Shown at Berlin International Film Festival (in competition) February 6-17, 2002.
Robert De Niro was previously attached to star.
Sam Bayer was previously attached to direct.
Sean Penn was previously attached to direct and star.
Vondie Curtis-Hall was previously attached to direct.
Wes Bentley was previously attached to play Sonny.
Film was previously in development at FilmFour and at Fine Line Features.
Screenwriting debut for Milo Addica and Will Rokos.
Began shooting May 15, 2001.
Completed shooting June 18, 2001.
Released in United States February 2002 (Shown at Berlin International Film Festival (in competition) February 6-17, 2002.)
Expanded Release in United States February 8, 2002
Released in United States on Video June 11, 2002
Released in United States November 2001 (Shown at AFI Fest 2001: The American Film Institute Los Angeles International Film Festival (Gala) November 1-11, 2001.)
Released in United States Winter December 26, 2001
