69
Metascore
32 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 90Rolling StonePeter TraversRolling StonePeter TraversThe actors make it unique and unforgettable.
- 90The New York TimesDana StevensThe New York TimesDana StevensThe raw intimacy of some of the scenes -- whether they take place at a diner, in the death house or in the bedroom -- is breathtaking.
- 88New York PostLou LumenickNew York PostLou LumenickPacks a dramatic wallop that makes it one of the year's best movies.
- 80VarietyRobert KoehlerVarietyRobert KoehlerBurning with a quiet intensity, Monster's Ball is bolstered by a poetic, intelligent sensibility not seen in an American film since Terrence Malick's "The Thin Red Line."
- 75Boston GlobeJay CarrBoston GlobeJay CarrThe kind of film that could easily be undone by its own high-minded ambitions and dissolve in a pall of uplift. But it stays the course and gives the season two of its notable performances.
- 75San Francisco ChronicleEdward GuthmannSan Francisco ChronicleEdward GuthmannDark and beautifully directed melodrama about the strange intersection of racism and emotional need.
- 75Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean AxmakerSeattle Post-IntelligencerSean AxmakerFor all its darkness and tragedy, Monster's Ball is a film that wants to be liked and Forster stumbles over his good intentions to win the audience over.
- 70Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternWall Street JournalJoe MorgensternHalle Berry is something else as Leticia Musgrove, the widow of an inmate who's just been executed by Hank and his crew, and that something else is commandingly passionate.
- 60TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonaghTV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonaghThe film's elliptical character development sometimes renders the actors' work opaque; restraint is an underpracticed virtue, but even it can be taken to excess.
- 40New York Magazine (Vulture)Peter RainerNew York Magazine (Vulture)Peter RainerAn arty sleepwalk. Thornton has developed a style of acting that goes beyond minimal into the near nonexistent.