(rated R, 111 mins.)
… moves slowly, Southern-style and dips us into a world that still clings to its Ku Klux Klan mentality. The setting revolves around Death Row, but unlike “Dead Man Walking,” in which our horror at the murder of innocents made us long for justice, “Monster’s Ball” makes us sympathize with a killer awaiting execution (Sean Puffy Combs), because we come to know Leticia (Halle Berry), and her son. On the side of the law are three generations of racist men. Junior Officer Sonny Grotowski (Heath Ledger) answers to his father, Police Chief Hank Grotowski (Billy Bob Thornton) at the precinct and at home, where Hank’ s father (Peter Boyle), the retired cop who is the most vile of the Grotowski men, sits spewing venom. But when two other unexpected tragedies take place, Hank, who is so eager to pull the electric-chair switch, finds himself drawn to Leticia, and both of them realize that sorrow doesn’t confine itself within racial boundaries. This story of two people trying to find redemption in the face of unspeakable pain (with a sex scene, conveying wrenching emotional need, that’s like nothing to hit the screen in recent years) will get both actors, especially Berry, an Oscar nomination. Not since her crack addict mothering in the 1995 role of “Losing Isaiah,” has Berry delivered such a remarkable performance.