There has been much talk about Halle Berry's gutsy performance in Monster's Ball. In fact, the turn has garnered her an Oscar nomination. The truth is, Berry is quite effective in this role, giving a performance that is both uninhibited and quite vulnerable. What I can't seem to understand is why Billy Bob Thornton has gone virtually unmentioned on the award circuit. He gave not one, but three incredibly diverse performances last year. While I loved his work in The Man Who Wasn't There and Bandits, I felt his part in Monster's Ball was the richest in character. I would have nominated him for an Oscar over Sean Penn in a heartbeat.

Monster's Ball is the story of two lonely souls who form a most unlikely relationship. Berry is a poor African American woman who must endure dealing with the death of her crooked husband (Sean "Puffy" Combs), a thug of a man who's spent the last eleven years on death row, leaving his wife to deal with their son. Thornton is the racist prison security guard who oversees the execution. After a series of tragic and most unexpected events, these two opposites find themselves in a strange situation, and learn they have more in common than one might expect.

Again, Berry is fantastic and so is Thornton, but I'd also like to mention the supporting players. Peter Boyle is riveting and an absolute monster as Thornton's father, while Heath Ledger is quietly effective as Thornton's confused son.

To simply call Monster's Ball a story about race would be unfair. While the film certainly deals with issues of race, it is the subtlety of the blooming relationship that really gives this picture it's power. This film has quite a bit in common with Paul Schrader's brilliant Affliction, a movie that deftly displays how hate is passed from generation to generation. It's when Monster's Ball deals with familiar issues in a familiar way, that the movie really slows down. For example, there is a moment in Monster's Ball when Berry takes a gift to Thornton, only when she arrives, she is greeted by Thornton's beast of a father. The minute the two meet, we the audience await the inevitable off-color remark that we know Boyle will make. There is no element of surprise here, rather just a most expected comment. On the other hand, Monster's Ball does not come without it's share of dramatic surprises. One is a true shocker, and I had no idea it was coming. Ultimately, this is a depressing film, but rest assured that there is a bit of light at the end of the tunnel.

I have colleagues who saw the film before I did, and although they liked it, they did have complaints about the adult content in this picture. There are some very explicit sex scenes in this movie, but I didn't feel they were gratuitous. This is a movie made for adults, but it isn't an adult movie. I felt that these scenes were important, in that they were displaying an intimacy that couldn't have been established if the film makers cut away. This is an up close and personal look at the early stages of a relationship, and the two major scenes in question aren't merely about sex. Their about an emotional release from two people who haven't felt real love in a long time.

Monster's Ball isn't a perfect film but it is a provocative one that will have audiences discussing it after they've left the theater. And while this character study does have it's share of slow stretches and moments that don't quite feel developed enough, it's powerhouse performances are enough to make the movie worth watching.