MovieChat Forums > Monster's Ball (2002) Discussion > She won an Oscar for this?

She won an Oscar for this?

posted 11 years ago by Bruno-Diaz
16 replies | jump to latest

That is my main reaction to this film.
She gave a good performance, but at no point did I feel it was Oscar worthy. Maybe the subject matter and nudity helped her in a way, The Academy seem to go for that quite a lot.
I did say "Must've been a slow year" (which was my reaction when I saw Denzel Washington in 'Training Day' too) but I feel myself saying comments like that about the female categories quite often though. But looking at the other nominees, it MUST have been a slow year. Nicole Kidman for 'Moulin Rouge' and Renee Zellweger for 'Bridget Jones's Diary'?

Who do you think should have won?

[–] FirstBlood1982 11 years ago

Kidman definitely should've won.

Singing, dancing and a wider range of emotions, way over the top eccentric scenes, quiet emotional scenes...

Halle had to look sad throughout and simulate rough sex.

+++by His wounds we are healed. - Isaiah 53:5+++

[–] Trackmaster 11 years ago

Bridget Jones? Really?

[–] MikePaul854 11 years ago

I said the same thing about Denzel Washington's role for Training Day. great actor, great role. Not Academy Award worthy tho.

[–] 11 years ago

[deleted]

[–] MikePaul854 11 years ago

Sissy was outstanding in that movie.

[–] its_Zoe_skanks 11 years ago

I'm a huge Halle fan but this wasn't her best role.

It was quite bad if you ask me

On Wednesdays we wear black

[–] elihuevalerio 9 years ago

In the Bedroom was a godawful movie with horrendously over-the-top performances (and I ADORE Sissy Spacek) and cringeworthy dialogue ("did you do it?").

Halle was decent in this, but she gives a much better performance in "Things We Lost in the Fire." People seem to forget tha one, or they haven't seen it.

[–] mcavanaugh-47228 9 years ago

This is just one reason why Academy Awards have become meaningless -- too often they're handed away to people who don't deserve them. This was the case with Halle Berry in "Monster's Ball." The Oscar should have gone to either Judi Dench for "Iris" or Sissy Spacek for "In the Bedroom." Berry didn't even deserve a nomination.

[–] cael22 9 years ago

I agree it should have been Sissy's.😀

[–] PaladinNJ (21772) 6 years ago

I always said Russell Crowe should have won. But they were not about to give out two back-to-back winners again after Hanks. I always got a kick out of an interview he had afterwards. He was asked how it felt to lose his Oscar to Denzel. His response was "it's not mine, it's his" Very much a gentleman.

[–] one8teen 10 years ago

Judi Dench and Russell Crowe should have won in 2001. I also think it should have been their only Oscar win.

[–] seahawk3133 10 years ago

The only reason I recorded this movie was because she won an Oscar for the role.

Decent movie, decent performance but far from great. I was scratching my head trying to figure out how she won Best Actress unless it was a make-up win for another role she did previously (or studio greased some palms)

[–] sstavsky 9 years ago

The fact that people on this thread have different opinions of who should've won would indicate that there may have been no clear-cut winner, although Sissy Spacek did win the lion's share of critics' awards for "In the Bedroom."

There may have been a certain sentiment to giving the Oscar to Berry, since no black woman had won the Best Actress Oscar up until this point. Nonetheless, she has also won the Screen Actors Guild and National Board of Review awards.

Having just seen the movie for the third time, I thought she was outstanding. There were two scenes that stood out to me, particularly. One was her drunk scene preceding the famous sex scene. The other was the last few minutes of the film. I don't want to give away the ending, but her whole reaction to what she discovers and how she processes it is very effective and moving. In the movie as a whole, as well as in this scene, she's able to convey both the vulnerability and the strength of her character.

[–] prplayer 8 years ago

it was a slow year, i would have been alright with either her or sissy Spacek winning

so many movies, so little time

[–] PaladinNJ (21772) 6 years ago

Definitely Nichole Kidman

[–] Hydracubus (791) 2 years ago

She should have won an AVN award instead.