Monster’s Ball is a special film. Halle Berry won an Academy Award for her performance, which is why I decided, after the Oscars were handed out, to see it with a friend. Berry is great but Billy Bob Thornton is greater, and Monster’s Ball is a small masterpiece. The less one knows about the plot the better, but keep your eye on Thornton, who expresses, in an understated yet believable way, the capacity for a man to change. For a review, here’s what The New York Times said.
Author: Peter Maass
I was born and raised in Los Angeles. In 1983, after graduating from the University of California at Berkeley, I went to Brussels as a copy editor for The Wall Street Journal/Europe. I left the Journal in 1985 to write for The New York Times and The International Herald Tribune, covering NATO and the European Union. In 1987 I moved to Seoul, South Korea, where I wrote primarily for The Washington Post. After three years in Asia I moved to Budapest to cover Eastern Europe and the Balkans. I spent most of 1992 and 1993 covering the war in Bosnia for the Post.
View all posts by Peter Maass
