Monster's Ball (2001)
Directed by Marc Forster
A prison guard begins a tentative romance with the unsuspecting widow of a man whose execution he presided over.
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What critics compared Monster's Ball to
There’s no use pretending that the story has any purpose except to link the chase-ems-and-shoot-ems, but director Marc Forster (previously associated with semi-arty films “Monster’s Ball,” “Finding Neverland”) borrows heavily from the Bourne movies, racing through jagged close-ups that thrust you in the middle, gasping.
The parallel-universes concept is fine, but the bad-idea-relationship plot feels like it was nicked from “Monster’s Ball.”
But producer Lee Daniels is no stranger to controversy, having also produced the provocative "Monster's Ball," which garnered Halle Berry a best-actress Oscar.
From the producer (Lee Daniels) of "Monster's Ball," to which "The Woodsman" unleashes the same mesmerizing power about the darker side of life, first time feature director Nicole Kassell shows a definite flair for handling her cast in this unsettling tale of regret, remorse, and redemption.
And director Marc Forster, whose career reads like a zigzag tour through genres ("Monster's Ball," "Finding Neverland"), finds an agreeable groove, letting the story's essential sweetness shine through.
The director, Marc Forster, became hot property after making “Monster's Ball” and “Finding Neverland” (neither of which bore much relation to his awful “Everything Put Together,” barely seen beyond the Sundance fest in 2000).
Since first receiving acclaim for Monster's Ball in 2001, Marc Forster has carved a career out of making low-key, imaginative, character-driven movies with big impact.
Stranger Than Fiction is directed by Marc Forster ( Monster’s Ball , Finding Neverland ) from a script by Zach Helm .
With the success of "Monster's Ball" (2001) and "Finding Neverland" (2004) behind him, director Marc Forster has established himself as a critic's and awards darling, if not necessarily a major cinematic artist.
Director Marc Forster has floundered thus far with realism ( Everything Put Together , Monster's Ball ) and flights of fantasy both maudlin ( Finding Neverland ) and baffling ( Stay ), but he shows a nice touch here, even if he's sometimes clumsy or misguided (as with a trick shot of the inside of Ferrell's mouth while brushing his teeth).
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The director is Marc Forster who, you may recall, made a modest, unexpectedly touching drama, Monster’s Ball , with Halle Berry and Billy Bob Thornton (cost: $4 million) a dozen years ago.
Director Marc Forster ("Monster's Ball") takes a situation that is truly horrible, and by playing it straight, lands it in a zone of real disturbance and unease.
And with a huge budget (reportedly in the $200 million range), blockbuster looks (who can forget the swarming zombie shots featured in the Super Bowl ads) and a name director (Marc Forster who brought us "Quantum of Solace," "Finding Neverland," "Monster's Ball," etc.) orchestrating all of it, what could go wrong?
I have gravely mixed feelings about every movie on Marc Forster’s résumé, from “Monster’s Ball” to “Stranger Than Fiction” to “The Kite Runner” to the 2008 Bond film “Quantum of Solace,” but the guy is undeniably a stylistic virtuoso with a Michael Winterbottom-like ability to jump around from one genre to another.
But director Marc Forster, who has clearly left intimate dramas like "Monster's Ball" behind, keeps things moving at a frantic enough pace that they fly quickly by.
But Marc Forster, director of such character-based films as "The Kite Runner," "Finding Neverland" and "Monster's Ball," and the Bond film "Quantum of Solace," never reconciles these two approaches.
Some films that I feel have explored grief and tragedy in really healthy ways include Blue Valentine (also directed by Derek Cianfrance), Monster’s Ball and Seven Pounds.
Something about the family doesn't quite click, either, despite some capable actors: Aja and co-writer Grégory Levasseur milk their six protagonists, especially the parents, for some quick jabs at libertarianism, gun worship, and religious fervor, assembling the kind of parodic "American" microcosm familiar from other European-helmed dramas like Monster's Ball and Manderlay, and with a corresponding failure to convince us that these stereotypes and figureheads constitute a plausible family.
Berry gives it her all, reminding you why she’s risen to greatness in better material (“Monster’s Ball”) and remains so watchable even in dreck like this.
My guess is Berry’s (Oscar-winning) participation in Monster’s Ball was the result of a paperwork mix-up.
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A provisional list of examples might include "Monster's Ball," "House of Sand and Fog" and "21 Grams."