Billy Bob Thornton has been gracing entertainment headlines lately for his bizarre and somewhat creepy marriage to Angelina Jolie. She wears a vial of his blood around her neck, and he wears her underwear under his clothes in order to “feel closer to her.”

So maybe he’s an odd duck — the man can act. Thornton’s quiet and layered turn as the barber in this year’s “The Man Who Wasn’t There” was the first film to generate Oscar talk for Billy Bob. Then along came “Monster’s Ball,” and Hollywood was abuzz again with accolades for the actor. In the end, it was his co-star Halle Berry who picked up the Best Actress nomination, while Thornton was overlooked.

Berry has been making entertainment headlines lately by being topless in her last several movies. She doesn’t break the trend in this film either. However, she does reveal a real depth of talent, and her character basically steals every scene, topless or not.

Truly, “Monster’s Ball” is an acting tour de force across the board.

Berry (“Swordfish”) plays Leticia Musgrove, who is forced to raise her 10-year-old son alone when her husband is executed. Struggling with racism in her small Southern town and trying to make ends meet, Leticia meets Hank Grotowski (Thornton, “Sling Blade”). Little does she know that friendly Hank is a hateful bigot who was responsible for the execution of her husband. Hank hates everyone, it seems, including his own desperate son (Heath Ledger, “A Knight’s Tale”).

But when he meets Leticia, all of that changes. Two dates and one extremely raunchy sex scene later, Hank is completely smitten. He instantly morphs from one of the most vile characters conceivable into a gentle and lovable guy. Yeah, right. Although the film is an exercise in acting range for Thornton, it’s not at all believable. All of the African American characters he has been abusing and berating throughout the film embrace suddenly enlightened Hank with open arms. He doesn’t even need to apologize for his previous actions.

“Monster’s Ball” begins as a dark and disturbing take on racism, execution, single parenting and death. The film is grainy and powerful and extremely unpleasant to watch. Then love enters the room, and we get a utopian vision of interpersonal relationships. It’s a nice thought, no argument, but it’s also a cheap copout for the film.

Berry’s Leticia is the most realistic and believable character in the movie. She seems just on the brink of a breakdown in every shot, and her flaws are rampant. A scene where she beats her son and screams obscenities at him for eating a candy bar is painfully wrenching, to say the least.

Director Marc Forster was relatively unknown before “Monster’s Ball,” and his potential is acutely obvious. Unfortunately, he slides too often between genius and obnoxious. While some of his scenes are darkly disturbing, others try too hard to be artistic and poignant. His penchant for shooting scenes from behind objects is also extremely annoying.

“Monster’s Ball” is the term used for the night before prisoners are executed. They are fed any meal they request and provided with whatever they require to calm them as the executing officers sit quietly by. The absurdity of comforting someone you are about to kill is the strongest point in the film. If the filmmakers had clung to these themes, the movie would have been brilliant. However, “Monster’s Ball” succumbs to fairytale pressure and walks down the Yellow Brick Road instead of the “Green Mile.”