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Monster's Ball (2001)
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THE MONSTER WITH THE MARSHMALLOW HEART
I loathe these 'Change-Of-Heart' Movies. I really do.
MONSTER'S BALL has got to be one of the most loathsome 'Change-of-Heart' flicks that I've seen in a mighty long time.
Take, for instance, the despicable main character in MONSTER'S BALL - Georgia prison guard, Hank Grotowski. At present Hank is working execution detail on Death Row.
What Hank is, is a really, really nasty, bitter, crybaby of an ex-cop. And if that side of Hank isn't detestable enough, then Hank's also one hell of a lousy drunk, and a mean, cussing, foul-mouthed, hateful racist, to boot. (These, of course, are all of Hank's good points.)
With that firmly in mind - It'd be pretty accurate to say that with a friend like Hank, no Black in Georgia would ever need an enemy.
But, what bothers me here is that suddenly, like, overnight (presto! change-o!) Hank does this complete about-face thing. Not only does Hank immediately stop hating Blacks, and treating them respectfully, but he also starts fornicating with a black woman named Leticia.
But, this big racist U-Turn of Hank Grotowski's didn't fool me one bit. His 'change-of-heart' was bull. Hank was a dyed-in-the-wool louse of a black-hater if I've ever seen one. I mean, this jerk was brought up, through every level of his childhood, by a father who was a rotten-minded, pig, bastard, racist, himself. So, what could you expect? Racism of this magnitude can only breed more racism.
And I don't care what anyone says - Nobody - I repeat - Nobody with such a deep-rooted hatred and animosity, as Hank had towards blacks, could ever possibly change so bloody fast as he did. It was a goddamn miracle. There would always-always-always be some remaining residue of hate and racism left smoldering under that cool, mild-mannered facade. It's impossible to be otherwise - We humans don't work in any other way. We don't.
Now, please, don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't believe that people can change - People can and do - But this is something that takes a lot of time, many years, in fact. And, I'm sorry, but considering Hank's background; this change in him was too unrealistically abrupt for me to accept. It seemed so phony and pretentious. Since the overall essence of this flick's story was directed at 'realism' Hank's instant 'conversion' to black-lover ruined that effect completely.
But, besides all that, I didn't like this flick's title - MONSTER'S BALL - either. It had very little, if nothing, to do with the tale that transpired.
As far as the story goes about a 'Monster's Ball', here's the gist of it -
Apparently, the night before an execution the jailers throw a party for the condemned man, and this little party is what's referred to as the 'Monster's Ball'. Well, OK - Now I don't know exactly what was meant by a 'party', but in this flick there were no 'Monster's Balls' held for anyone. It didn't happen. All that the jailers did for the condemned men was to give them an extra piece of cake with their final supper. That's it! Big deal! That's not much of a Monster's Ball if you ask me. It really sucked, big time.
All in all, I didn't like this flick. It was very disappointing.
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 | Tim
Dec 20, 2008 6:00 PM
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I took Hank's character different then that. I thought that he was raised into hating black people by his racist father. He didnt agree with his father but he listened and acted as his father wanted him to. Once he met Leticia and they had both lost their sons around the same time...he decided that he didnt care what his father thought anymore...that Hank himself was a bad father and thats why his son shot himself and that made Hank realize that his father was bad / wrong as well.
I liked the film.... the characters were developed well and the sex scene between Berry and Thorton is one of the best out there in a mainstream movie. |
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Dec 22, 2008 10:42 PM
But - From the 'Critic's Chair' where I'm sitting - Once Hank did his 'change-of-heart' thing he didn't do enough, for my liking, to right the wrongs of a lifetime of hatred and racism.