Monsters Ball (2001)

: Sweet Potato


Directed by: Marc Forster
Starring: Billy Bob Thornton, Halle Berry, Heath Ledger, Peter Boyle

Dysfunctional lives intersect when Hank Grotowski (Billy Bob Thornton) and Leticia Musgrove (Halle Berry) meet and attempt to fill one another’s mutual need to feel good about themselves. Having each gone through a crisis, they are examining their lives in a harsh personal light. Hank has a specific and ironic tie to Leticia, a dark regret that imbues him with the need to know and take care of her. He finds himself questioning the values he has lived by, the man he has become and the racial prejudices that have been instilled in him by a bigoted father, and chooses to open his mind and re-imagine himself. Leticia, unaware of any connection or racial barrier, bares her soul and body to him in a desperate desire for comfort and validation as a good human being. Both discover that things are not always so black and white, that life is colored and shaded, that there is hope, even if it is distant and faint. The film is powerful and sad, yet it looks through the fog of dismal inhumanity and reaches toward the light. That is what transcends the story from depressive to inspired. Halle Berry’s Academy Award winning performance is never more poignant than in the last scene when she leads you on a journey of wonder without saying a word. This movie is not for children, the sexual content is explicit and the themes are mature. For adults with a taste for full flavor, this potato is stewed in the pot and enriched by the ingredients that are stirred in.

PotatoPatti