A lifetime of change can happen in a single moment.

Starring: Bill Bob Thornton, Halle Berry, Heath Ledger, Sean Combs, Mos Def, Peter Boyle, Gabrielle Witcher, Amber Rules

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★☆ - near perfect

"I've always believed that a portrait captures a person far better than a photograph. It truly takes a human being to really see a human being." - Lawrence Musgrove

Why watch this? Most of the film is about pain, its aftermath, and how folks try to move on.

Plot Summary: A white corrections officer, Hank Grotowski, works on death row. After a series of personal tragedies, he quits his job and meets Leticia Musgrove, an African-American woman also dealing with immense personal loss. Unbeknownst to them both, Hank was one of the officers who carried out the execution of Leticia's husband, creating a complex and tragic connection between them.

Dad's Preview: This is a brutally hard film to watch at times. There are many tragedies that befall its flawed characters: A prisoner is executed. A young man takes his own life. A mother's child is killed by a car. Each calamity is peppered with generational racism. Still, amid all that, two lost, emotionally wounded people find each other and try to salvage something from the carnage. Performances are stellar all the way around, including Thornton and the late Heath Ledger. However, it is Halle Berry, whose pain is palpable, who shines, and she justifiably won the Oscar for Best Actress.

Lee Daniels Entertainment; Lions Gate Films