Rating- * * * * (4/5)
Of all the movies I’ve seen in 2001, no other film divided audiences, and my own mind, more than this film. There are so many great elements to this film, but the things that are not done right are done so badly that they actually lessen my opinion of the film as a whole. My friend Emily, who saw the film with me, was so appalled by the graphic sex scenes that she forgot all the other good things about the movie and decided that she hated the film. I had a decidedly less intense reaction to these scenes, maybe because I am more accepting of sex scenes when they are put in the right context or maybe it’s just because I’m a guy. Either way, it should be understood that while I was not totally disgusted as my friend was, these scenes are so out of context with the rest of the film and so over the top in their graphic display that they truly did lessen the quality of an otherwise good film. The story follows two very different individuals; a poor black mother named Leticia (Halle Berry) and Hank, a white police officer who works on death row (Billy Bob Thornton). The film opens with Leticia visiting her husband in prison on the day of his execution, along with their son. Leticia’s husband is played by, believe it or not, Sean Combs (a.k.a. Puffy, Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, whatever). Whether or not you take Combs seriously as a musician or even as a human being, I believe after seeing this film that he deserves to be taken seriously as an actor. His performance, although short, is more than convincing; it’s heartbreaking. The film does not try to make us feel sorry for him; he tells his son up front, “I am a bad man. You are the only thing good about me.” The heartbreaking scene between the man on death row and his son in their final moments together is one of the most emotionally moving scenes in any movie of the past year. There is one scene later in the movie that is more emotional than this and serves as the turning point of the film, but I can’t tell you what it is because it would spoil the movie. Halle Berry’s performance in this scene is likely what won her the Oscar for Best Actress and it his so hauntingly real that it brought tears to my eyes for only the second time in 2001. Billy Bob Thornton also does a wonderful job as Hank and shows a great deal of depth to his character. He always looks as though there are a million thoughts running through his head and as if each decision carries the weight of years of verbal and mental abuse with it. Hank’s father (played by the great Peter Boyle) is a hateful, racist old man who drives Hank to be just as hateful to his son (Heath Ledger) causing all kinds of turmoil and emotional stress. Ultimately, the conditions and situations of the two main characters bring them together despite their many differences. They end up together not because they want each other, but because they need each other and their relationship, although a little strange, is very beautiful, touching and human. The only problem with it is the sex scene that I mentioned earlier; this scene comes when they finally realize that they need each other and wish to give themselves completely to this new relationship. This could certainly have been done without any sex scene at all, but even if the director chose to go the route of a sex scene he could have done so without being nearly as graphic or gratuitous about it. The nudity detracts from the seriousness of the moment and instead turns it into an erotic, almost violently passionate scene in which the characters totally disappear and make way for two mindless bodies performing an action. The film’s resolution is a little ambiguous, but not inappropriately so and the way the characters deal with the final situation is very real and not at all what you expect from movie characters. Despite the gratuitous sex scene, this film has some of the best performances of this or any year and a great story to boot. This is without a doubt one of the best films of the year and every film lover should see it and experience the heart and the emotion of this film.