The Ballad of Jack and Rose (2005) User Reviews

It's a movie about a lot of things, and emotional incest is one of them.

[slevert · 8/10 · 2 May 2006]

This film is a must-see for anyone who has witnessed or is dealing with emotional incest. Lewis portrays Jack, a single father who has lived on an island in isolation with his daughter until his new girlfriend comes to move in. Up until the girlfriend's arrival, Jack and his daughter Rose have lived in isolation on an island compound.

After the girlfriend's arrival, Rose's jealousy grows, and she tries to take the girlfriend's place. In an effort to to marginalize the girlfriend, Rose takes up a new-found interest in sexuality, thinking that must be what her father wants and is getting from the girlfriend.

It's obvious to anyone watching that Jack loves his daughter, and in many ways has been a wonderful father to her. The problem is not that he does not love her, or that he loves her too much. The problem is that he's loved her in the wrong way. He allowed Rose to fill the void left by her mother. He elevated Rose to the position of spouse. Jack realizes this, and sets out to undo the damage.

The movie also deals with the dreams of reconciliation children of divorce have. Rose displays all the postcards her mother sends on a wall in the house and tells the new girlfriend that "one day she's coming back."

I always find Daniel Day-Lewis's characters engaging, and Jack is no different. He's a brilliant and eccentric man who is conflicted by the desire to love and protect his daughter, and the desire to prepare her to be an independent woman. He has the clarity to recognize his foibles, and his bumbling efforts to set things straight bring compassion to human frailty.

Father and daughter

[jotix100 · 8/10 · 24 November 2005]

This film disappeared locally right after its theatrical debut, so when IFC showed it recently, we rushed to catch up with it. Having admired its director, Rebecca Miller in all her films, we were right in seeing it in the wide screen of the main theater because that seems to be the perfect way to watch this intimate picture.

Ms. Miller takes us to an island off the coast of the continental mainland to set her story. As the film opens we watch Jack Flavin with his teen age daughter as they are perched on the roof of their strange cabin with the roof being made of lawn grass. They are father and daughter who have stayed in the land where years ago, had been a commune. We don't know what happened to Rose's mother, and nothing is clarified. We gather Jack and Rose have a special bond that at times border in incest.

Jack believes in keeping the island the way it is; development is coming fast and furious in the way of luxury homes being built in what probably will be a gated community where people of the same background and financial means will live, in sharp contrast as the commune idea that attracted Jack to the place. Jack, having inherited money from his father is financially secure, but still lives in a primitive way in a basic type of life. We see Jack as he takes pills; we realize he is not a well man.

When Jack takes a side trip to the mainland, he visits Kathleen, a single mother with two teen aged sons. Jack convinces her to come to live with him at the island. What Jack doesn't count is on Rose's reaction to the invasion to her space. In fact, the hatred for the invaders is instant. Katheleen, a kind woman herself, tries to reach Rose without any success. Rodney, one of the sons, has a weight problem, and has studied to be a hairdresser. Thaddius, is the rebel, who has an eye on the beautiful Rose.

Jack's basic intention for bringing Kathleen is to help him during his last days because he senses his days are numbered. When Thaddius suffers an accident, Kathleen takes the opportunity to go back home, leaving Jack and Rose to fend for themselves.

Ms. Miller takes an elegiac look at the situation making Jack into an almost Shakespearean character, that is, bigger than life. Jack is lovingly photographed in his many moods. The beautiful Rose's face shows all the emotions going on inside her. The director ought to be congratulated for involving us in the film and making us care for what will happen to Jack and Rose.

Daniel Day-Lewis is an actor who doesn't work much these days and that is our loss! As Jack, Mr. Day-Lewis has the rare opportunity to show his vulnerability and seems to be naked in front of our eyes because he doesn't hide the emotions from us. We know at any given moment what this man is thinking and what makes him tick. Mr. Day-Lewis gives a fabulous performance as he dominates the picture completely.

Camilla Belle is Rose. This young actress proves he is up to the task the director demands of her character. Not only is she beautiful, but she clearly exudes an innate intelligence that pays off in her portrayal of the girl who sees her world fall apart and has no way to stop what is killing her father.

Catherine Keener makes a valuable contribution to the film as Kathleen. She clearly is a gentle soul who is in love with Jack and wants to stay with him until the end. That is not meant to be because Jack realizes that in "importing" her to the island she gets in the way of the perfect balance between father and daughter.

Ryan McDonald makes the confused Rodney come alive. This young actor is a natural. The rest of the cast include minor appearances by Beau Bridges, Jason Lee, Jena Malone and Paul Dano, who plays Thaddius the other son.

"The Ballad of Jack and Rose" is clearly not for a wide audience because it's too intelligent to get a broader distribution, but the fans of Rebecca Miller will always cherish this film for what she brought to it and for the magnificent performances she got from her cast. The film is beautifully photographed Ellen Kuras and has an interesting score by Michael Rohatyn.

Great movie - Loved the setting!

[clg121 · 8/10 · 17 May 2005]

Loved the movie. The beautiful story went well with the picturesque setting in our smallest Canadian province on the east coast, Prince Edward Island, where the movie was filmed. Daniel Day Lewis was great. I wonder, did he have to lose a lot of weight to play the part? Ryan MacDonald did an excellent job and gave the movie some comedic relief. It brought back memories of the good old commune days! Maybe a return to those days might do our world some good. Beau Bridges gave a good performance as well but the sweet innocence of Rose was really the essence of the movie. You could feel the love connection between her and her father, be it father/daughter love or the love felt between lovers.

A multi-layered web of desire and confusion

[cliffhanley_ · 16 April 2006]

Any film starring the Daniel Day Lewis is a pretty safe bet. Although indisputably sexy, he grabs the roles which once were only for 'character actors', which in Hollywood meant past the best, not-bland, kooky, or downright ugly. This time, he's an ageing hippy from Motherwell (judging by his impeccable accent), living on in an abandoned commune with Rose, his daughter (Camilla Belle) who has been so well kept away from the corrupting influences of the outside world that she behaves like his clone, or sister, or lover. Nothing lasts for ever, and here it's Jack's failing health and Rose's growing up that threaten the status quo. Jack's attempt to patch up his way of life which is falling apart like the commune house itself, means importing his actual lover, who brings her two sons. Awkwardly for Jack, all these people have their own lives and aspirations, which is something he will have become unaccustomed to on his little island, and the clash leads everyone in directions none of them expected. A further complication is the building of a dinky housing estate which Jack's terrorist policies cannot halt, and again, the man responsible for this inroad from the modern world turns out to be a human, too. The story raises lots of questions about freedom and responsibility; not least through the fact that Jack can only live his pure, undefiled life because of inherited money. The plot is full of surprises and so are the cast, negotiating a multi-layered web of intrigue with as much delicacy as strength. Rebecca Miller clearly is a writer of singular imagination, and if this, her third film (although she started acting on-screen in 1988) is the way she intends to keep directing, then that's just fine. CLIFF HANLEY

Daniel Day Lewis makes this all worthwhile

[Juliette2005 · 6/10 · 11 February 2006]

Even though I didn't entirely believe him in this role, he's such an outstanding actor that it held my attention.

This film is clearly an 'indy' film, and has many wonderful qualities. The photography, some of the acting, the scenery. Unfortunately, the script I found cloying and weak and entirely unbelievable, it sidestepped the creepy incestuous moments that it evoked, and felt a little like watching a scene from a writers workshop at times.

That being said- Daniel Day Lewis. He makes it all worthwhile.

It's worth a rent, and I do look forward to whatever Ms. Miller does next, and I hope she has a long career. It's wonderful to find a woman filmmaker who is willing to explore difficult themes, I just wish this film had been better.

Okay, but not great

[MissDev · 6/10 · 1 February 2005]

I saw the world premiere of "Jack and Rose" at the Sundance Film Festival, and I had such high hopes for this movie. And it delivering on some things - the cinematography was great. The location could not have been more beautiful and appropriate. The acting was very good (I thought that there were times when Camilla out-shown Daniel Day Lewis). However, i felt that the story was not as originally approached as it could have been. And the way the movie was edited didn't seem to go with the story. I understand using a disjointed time line in order to communicate confusion and other emotions, but in this case it was just distracted, and added absolutely nothing. I was also disappointed that some of the sub-stories did not fully develop when they were some of the most interesting parts of the movie.

The ending is very beautiful and does a good job of tying up the movie - until the epilogue. The director said that she would never consider taking the epilogue out, but I think that it needs to be handled differently. It seems like she thinks her audience is stupid by putting the title "2 years later" - it's pretty clear from the location change and change in appearance of the character that it's later. Come on, give us some credit.

I think that if this film was re-edited, it would be much, much better.

Disquieting Face Off Between Idealism and Human Nature

[noralee · 7/10 · 4 April 2005]

"Ballad of Jack and Rose" almost works as it examines the pitfalls of extreme idealism.

Writer/director Rebecca Miller sets up an archetypal situation, of an isolated Utopian who thinks he can create and control a perfect living environment with his daughter.

Daniel Day Lewis makes him too sympathetic, particularly his Pyrrhic politics, while his character's nemeses are too simplistic, even as he finally is defeated by mortality and human nature, or perhaps what some theologians would consider original sin. Lewis as the dad is even more creepily naive than J. M. Barrie in "Finding Neverland" in wanting innocent children to never grow up, even while indulging his own adult needs.

As with "Personal Velocity," Miller well captures conversational dialog within broken families, particularly across genders, and she is uncannily good at giving us young and older teens, as puberty is presented here as a palpable enemy.

Beau Bridges's good old boy developer is an overly stereotyped builder of ticky tacky McMansions; it would have been more interesting if he was threatening the wetlands with solar powered, energy recycling houses.

The continuing image of poisonous snakes is a bit heavy-handed symbolism of women as the cause for the fall of Eden. While Miller in a Q & A at a showing at the Landmark Sunshine Theater in NYC said she was inspired by the Gnostic Gospels, I saw ironic parallels with Lot's daughters, who coming from Sodom and Gomorrah have much in common with this daughter of a failed commune. Camilla Belle is excellent as a girl who gradually, albeit a bit scarily, discovers her powers, and her male counterparts are very believable as kids with their own problems.

Most of the audience was disquietingly dissatisfied with the ending and coda of the film, so much of the questioning to Miller focused on those aspects, as she claimed they were not after-thoughts or revisions. But the writing and characterizations shown did not support the changes she claimed the characters had gone through to justify the denouement.

An interesting comparison can be made with "Off the Map" which also views an alternative life style through the eyes of a budding teen age girl, but whose family is held together by an earth mother.

The Dylan and other singer-songwriter selections on the soundtrack are very effective.

This movie may contain overt, obvious symbolism.

[colonel_green · 7/10 · 17 May 2005]

First off, a toast to this movie for being filmed in my home province of Prince Edward Island, and for giving my uncle a "Special Thanks" credit. Local connections aside, "The Ballad of Jack and Rose" (which I think sounds like an alternate title for "Titantic") is an unusual, offbeat, thoroughly "indie" movie, and it's definitely worth seeing for the contrast with standard Hollywood fare. Daniel Day-Lewis, a rare but welcome presence on our theatre screens, plays Jack, an aging hippie who lives with his daughter Rose (Camilla Belle, in a breathtaking performance) on an otherwise-deserted commune. The commune is a private nature park (go PEI!), but is being threatened by a developer (a cameo appearance by Beau Bridges), and, more pertinently, the arrival of Jack's girlfriend Kathleen (Catherine Keener) and her two sons (Ryan Macdonald and Paul Dano). Rose's isolationist childhood has rendered her rather sociopathic, and with an Elektra complex. She wants Kathleen dead, and she wants to get back at her father for his perceived betrayal. Day-Lewis gives a characteristically good performance, but the movie is, surprisingly, much more about Rose than Jack. Camilla Belle is a wonderful (and very beautiful) actress, and I hope her career is a success. It would be a shame to lose such a promising talent. Ryan Macdonald is notable as Kathleen's son Rodney, a warm and understanding character stuck in a rather depressing family. The film contains a great deal of obvious symbolism, which audiences will either enjoy or find irritatingly over-the-top. I guess I'm in the former camp. I give "The Ballad of Jack and Rose" a 7/10.

Surprising and wonderful

[andimacmillan · 9/10 · 28 May 2006]

After not seeing much from Daniel Day-Lewis for a while, I was excited to see this film, though I was afraid it may not live up to what we expect from him. It was far better than I could have hoped, due not only to a terrific cast, but Rebecca Miller's writing and directing. The moments of humour ring with truth, and the characters have been developed so well, you feel voyeuristic. Daniel Day-Lewis is, as always, brilliant. The internal struggles his character goes through are poignant and completely believable. In fact, all of the characters in this story are a wonderfully realistic blend of black and white - all have virtues and all are flawed. Very thought-provoking and evocative. Visually beautiful, as well. This is a very underrated film and deserves far more recognition than it seems to have received.

Wandering and tiresome

[Groverdox · 6/10 · 13 October 2015]

Rose lives all alone on an island with her ailing hippie father. She worships him and has incestuous feelings for him. He is still clinging to the dream that the island will remain a paradise away from the rigours of the modern world. However property developers are threatening to move in.

It is refreshing to see a story of incest told from a female's perspective. However Rose remains unknowable throughout most of the movie - but then, in essence, so do the other characters, with vague and baffling dialogue. In the second half there are sudden developments that seem too convenient to do away with characters who leave the movie spread far too thin across the remaining characters and remaining runtime. The ending also seemed a bit too neat and tidy for the challenging issues the movie has raised.

Rather unpleasant viewing...and I can see why it didn't do well in theaters.

[planktonrules · 2/10 · 12 July 2021]

Despite the film only costing about $1.5 million to make (which is cheap considering it's a Daniel Day Lewis film), "The Ballad of Jack and Rose" managed to make back only about half that worldwide in theaters. Perhaps the studio didn't trust the movie enough to give it widespread distribution...perhaps audiences just didn't like it. Regardless, it turns out to be one of Daniel Day Lewis' least seen movies. And, after seeing it, I think I have some ideas why it wasn't a success.

The story is set in the 1980s. Back in 1968, Jack (Lewis) joined a commune along with his wife. Over the years, everyone, including his wife, has left and it's just been Jack there alone to raise his daughter, Rosie. As a result, they have lived a very isolated life on this island and this is now a serious problem as Jack is sick and doesn't expect to live a lot longer...and Rosie has no real knowledge or experience of the world to make it alone. So, he decides to try to make an instant family--bringing a girlfriend and her two grown boys to their home....even though Rosie has never met any of them. Not surprisingly, it's all a giant mess...and the new blended family is about as unsuccessful and unpredictable as it could be.

The underlying theme seems very Freudian. In so many ways, the old 'Electra Complex' idea comes through with this film. In other words, the father and daughter are so close that it's unnatural and there seems to be some sort of pseudosexual chemistry going on between them. It's icky...and probably made audiences feel uncomfortable. In addition, it's very hard to like the folks in the film (the possible exception being the son who wants to be a hair dresser). All of them are desperately screwed up and greatly in need of therapy...especially Rosie. And, audiences and the studio apparently realized that such a group of misfits make for very difficult viewing....especially since they are mostly unlikable folks. It also didn't help that Jack's character didn't make a lot of sense....a man made up of very few consistent values, resulting in a man who is a complete enigma.

Overall, a mostly unpleasant film about some messed up folks that leaves you a bit creeped out and DEFINITELY ill at ease...particularly as the film progresses. I don't want to spoil the film...but creepy it DEFINITELY is.

Great Psychological Drama

[kaylasaylor · 10/10 · 7 October 2005]

I'm an Indy film addict, and was iffy about watching this one because of the description above, but on a whim i bought it and watched it and fell in love. The story of Jack and Rose is told so beautifully and perfectly that as the story progressed I found myself hoping that something would change, or hoping for some plot twist saying that rose wasn't his daughter, because I truly wanted these two to work out. The devotion between father and daughter is amazingly portrayed, Daniel Day-Lewis was perfect and I cannot imagine anyone else in this movie. Once i finished watching for the first time I found myself almost in a daze, the progression of Rose's whole being was a delicate matter that was handled beautifully. There was a feeling of tension throughout that drew me in. I have never fallen in love with a movie like this before. Bravo to the writer and cast and all involved. Thank you for this beautiful film about love, loss and culture change.

What am I Missing?

[lpersons-2 · 6/10 · 2 December 2006]

I watched this movie and thought it was a waste of time. Although the characters are somewhat developed well, I thought I was watching mentally ill people who needed psychiatric help. I wasn't sure if there was suppose to be a hidden meaning to the movie or not, but I sure didn't get it. The entire plot line was a little "out there". The best acting came from the the two boys playing the sons of the girlfriend. Some of the scenery was exquisite and I did like the clothes that the characters wore, but other than these few good things I feel the movie is a waste. If you enjoy slow paced, boring movies this may be just what you are looking for.

Not an honest line of dialog or credible emotion in this film.,

[Mickey37-1 · 1/10 · 9 March 2005]

Within the first five minutes of the film Jack (Daniel Day-Lewis), announces, tendentiously, to his daughter, Rose (Camilla Belle), a major theme of the film. Immediately, we are alerted not to expect subtlety here. Shortly thereafter, Rose runs dramatically to her refuge in the woods following her father's attempt to discuss his state of health, and we know director/screenwriter Rebecca Miller has no fear of filmic cliché.

There is not an honest line of dialog or credible emotion in this film. Obvious symbols and self-indulgent earnestness give the production an overwrought feel of adolescent angst. And unfortunately, this "style" extends to camera-work, which calls attention to itself at the expense of the story, and a score which should receive a "worst use of Bob Dylan" award. This is the worst film with a serious intent I have seen in years.

extremely disappointing, naively bad

[jrwmusic32 · 23 April 2005]

this movie was naively bad.

it qualifies as poorly written and directed. the symbolism was extremely heavy handed and all plot movement was too heavily predicted. writing and directing was freshman "indie film" level. this film suffered from the "i am married to daniel day lewis and daughter of arthur miller" so therefore i get to make this film and get it distributed.

speaking of daniel day, i doubt if he would have considered this role if he wasn't married to rebecca miller ( the director ). catherine keener, who is usually interesting in contemporary films, was poorly cast. daniel day lewis, who is usually spectacular when he has a script and role worthy of his talents, suffered trying to carry the whole film.

the premise, however is interesting. it could have been a good film, in the hands of someone more talented.

There's something missing...

[bobsgrock · 6/10 · 12 April 2008]

The acting is terrific, of course, with Daniel Day-Lewis and Catherine Keener headlining here, but the script is just all over the place and never has a real clear direction in where it's going. The beginning grabbed me and I felt like this was going to be a touching story, but as soon as Kathleen and her two sons came to move in with Jack and Rose, everything fell apart. As I said before, the acting is wonderful, the direction is smooth, and the dialogue is good, but I simply couldn't help but wonder why the film went in the direction it went. It seems that we are supposed to feel sympathetic for these characters, but both Jack and Rose are simply irrational and much too isolated for their own good. It starts well, but as a whole, this film spirals off into a world of confusion.

Disturbing, beautiful.

[Miss_Cardinale · 7/10 · 18 March 2008]

Not for the squeamish of heart. Not because of violence or anything, but it is a disturbing kind of movie, touching on isolation, bad parenting, snakes, incest, urban sprawl, drugs, ideals gone awry, the similarities of enemies and death.

I'm usually fond of Catherine Keener, but I really wanted to slap the ever-lovin' crap out of her in this movie. Then set the snake on her. Bitch.

Camilla Belle is weirdly transcendent as Rose, the dangerously innocent teenaged daughter. "Wild Thing" as Keener's character's extra-creepy son puts it. (there are two sons. One extra-creepy, one only mildly creepy) Daniel Day-Lewis continually amazes me at the rigors he puts himself through to achieve accuracy of role. As Jack, it is quite believable that he's a man on the short road to death. His body looks as though a light wind would knock him down, and when I saw him shirtless, I wondered how he could breathe with no space for his lungs to exist in his sunken chest. It was like looking at Gollum.

Beautifully directed by Rebecca Miller, who also wrote the novel on which it's based. Cinematographically (is that a word?) it's stunning- she's well on her way to being a much sought out director if she can direct someone else's works with the same deft touch as she uses on her own.

Anyway- not one for the kiddies, and it's left me feeling melancholy and kind of empty. Sad for the characters I was pulling so hard for.

I liked it. :)

Great Character Development If Nothing Else

[eric262003 · 6/10 · 14 August 2018]

"The Ballad of Jack and Rose" is a subtle character based drama about a father and daughter living a rather bucolic lifestyle only for it to get shattered by three newbies who arrived on the scene. Sure the characters were well fleshed out, but that's what this film has to offer and nothing more. Sure these individuals lives have changed which was handled very well be writer/director Rebecca Miller. She brings life into these characters and gives them the liberation to flourish in their status quo.

The story has a bit of a modernized version of The Garden of Eden along with snakes in both the figurative and literal sense. At most this film is just saturated with symbolism made famous by her playwright father Arthur Miller. Jack Slavin (Daniel Day-Lewis) and is daughter Rose (Camilla Belle) have lived in solidarity in a commune on an island in the American East Coast. They live off the land resourcefully by organically growing their own food and utilize in providing their own electricity via windmills and don't rely on anyone outside their domain. The only non-resident who come by is a gardener named Gray (Jason Lee) who offers Rose flowers to plant, since being in her garden is where she spends most of her days. When news that Jack is dying from a heart condition, he fears that when dies Rose will likely soon follow. He then soon invites a middle-aged lady named Kathleen (Catherine Keener) and her two sons Rodney and Thaddius (Ryan McDonald and Paul Dano) to be house guests permanently. This surprises and unsettles Rose as she shifts her innocent ways and a swift turn on her father Jack.

The balancing of this movie is to pave ways to certain components contrary to one another consumerism against idealism, sting in the past or moving on, making strides or staying putt. Miller succeeds in handling these issues unbiased. There are both good and bad sides to everything. Unfortunately,Jack's pro-stagnation beliefs can clearly and understandably be contrasted by Marty Rance's (Beau Bridges) pro-progression and the conflicts between them can be proven very inane at times. It is really forced down our throats that Jack is the protagonist and the worse thing is that Jack knows it.

The aforementioned snake that causes the inevitable break-up between Jack and Kathleen which leads to her and her two sons to part ways leads to the return of Rose's back on happy terms again. Jack and Rose were okay before Kathleen and her sons came into their lives. Sex plays a pivotal role here as Jack and Kathleen take themselves to a place of consummate where they commit intercourse, instead of feeling warm inside, you feel the intensity burning in Rose's eyes as jealousy starts to manifest in her head. There's even a point where she becomes nearly homicidal as she tries to murder Kathleen or even her father. While this is happening, Rose feels that she herself could find a way to lose her virginity.

Some people go through such great lengths to fit into those roles they even sacrifice their own bodies to make us feel sympathy for them. Daniel Day-Lewis did just that as when bare-chested he looks gaunt and semi-skeletal in appearance. Even though he's under his wife, Miller's direction, we know he can always muster in a great performance without being a slacker. Camilla Belle who is not a household name in Hollywood displays great acting which could feel like a breakthrough performance for her. Catherine Keener is great as always showing just how versatile she is as a performer.

Sure the contrivances are quite frequent in "The Ballad of Jack and Rose", but it all gets concealed due to likable characters that we don't ever observe them. Sure the pace is slower than molasses, but it was done on purpose by Miller, can make fans feel very unsettled by it. I agree, it is losing a turtle race in its pacing, but this gives the characters ample time to develop and to make the audience become invested in them.

A powerful and affecting film.

[trez1 · 9/10 · 27 March 2005]

This is a powerful and affecting film. I have a few quibbles about Ms. Miller's use of the camera and her editing, especially in the beginning as there were too many jerky cuts/unnecessary camera movements which were quite distracting. Thankfully they diminished as the film progressed.

Camilla Belle's as Rose performance was surprisingly nuanced and rich for such a young actress, she didn't have one false note and was totally believable as this "feral," innocent, yet disturbed teen. All the supporting actors were excellent, the characterizations and dialogue engaging and true and the emotional unraveling harrowing.

Day-Lewis' performance as Jack Slavin was outstanding. It hits you with such power that it left me flattened. While the credits ran I had to close my gaping jaw, peel myself off the movie chair and stumble up the aisle trying to absorb it all. Moment by moment he communicated paragraphs of information about Jack's multi-layered internal complexities with complete mastery and subtlety. The man's our finest film actor, period.

This movie has an original voice, it doesn't pander and despite some visual clichés, it follows its own unique internal logic. Definitely worth seeing, especially for the performances of Day-Lewis and Camilla Belle.

awkward relationship

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 11 November 2017]

It's 1986. Jack Slavin (Daniel Day-Lewis) and his young daughter Rose (Camilla Belle) live in blissful isolation on a former island commune off the east coast. They defend ferociously the local wetland against land developer neighbor Marty Rance (Beau Bridges). He invites Kathleen (Catherine Keener) to live with them and she brings along her sons, Rodney (Ryan McDonald) and Thaddius (Paul Dano). Rose is immediately jealous and tries unsuccessfully to seduce Rodney. Red Berry (Jena Malone) arrives bringing candy for Rodney and sex for Thaddius.

The opening act confused me with a seemingly disturbing Jack and Rose relationship. It doesn't help that Rose acts like a jealous lover. It turns into an interesting sexual coming-of-age story for Rose as she tries to seduce the new men in her life. Then the last act leaves Jack and Rose back as a weird awkward couple. It's slightly off-putting. The whole movie is filled with interesting performers and slightly off-putting. It's not fulfilling but it does have some interesting bits and pieces.

Slow Moving and Idiosyncratic Father-Daughter Portrayal Among the Hippie Culture

[EUyeshima · 2/10 · 12 December 2005]

Master filmmaker Yasujiro Ozu made one of his great masterworks about the unearthly devotion between a father and a daughter with 1949's "Late Spring". Director-screenwriter Rebecca Miller has a similar idea in mind here, as she has fashioned a story set in 1986 around the same inextricable bond between a 1960's drop-out Jack and his teenage daughter Rose on an isolated island. She has an intriguing idea for the film's theme, the disillusionment of the idealism borne out of the 1960's anti-war movement and the encroachment of capitalism upon a former commune's idyllic setting.

However, whereas Ozu uses narrative ellipses to let the story flow and lets the viewer respond emotionally, Miller does not reflect such an instinctive manner and has piled on soap opera conventions, heavy symbolism, a dominating soundtrack (lots of Bob Dylan) and lethargic pacing to add weight to her well-intentioned but significantly flawed 2005 movie. That's unfortunate since we expect more from a film starring the likes of Daniel Day-Lewis (Miller's husband) as Jack and Catherine Keener as his sometime hippie-earth mother girlfriend, Kathleen. Looking appropriately gaunt for a dying man, Day-Lewis infuses his trademark feral passion into the role and comes up with some genuinely incisive moments, though Miller gives him little more the liberal hermit archetype to play. Keener does not fare much better as her role is even more stereotypical than his, especially as Miller's contrived story turns make her acts more incomprehensible as the story trudges on. Oddly, she plays a comic variation on a very similar role in this year's "The 40 Year-Old Virgin" and is wonderful in that.

Camilla Belle is a lovely presence as Rose, and she does some strong work with the coming-of-age aspects of her character. Where the script fails her is in showing the motivation for her often extreme acts of hostility and manipulation to keep Rose's relationship with Jack isolated from the others. As a result, she comes across as petulant and childish rather than the puritanical soul Miller would like us to think she is. There are several performances in smaller roles worth mentioning - Ryan McDonald keenly aware as Kathleen's overweight, acerbic son, Rodney, who wants to be a hairdresser; Beau Bridges as the conciliatory land developer, Marty Rance; a surprisingly sensitive Jason Lee as a thoughtful gardener who bonds with Rose over their mutual love of flowers; and in the film's best performance, an almost unrecognizable Jena Malone as Rodney's wild-child friend, Red Berry.

Occasionally there are scenes that surprise with their originality like the final encounter between Jack and Marty. However, more often, there are several scenes that ring false, in particular, the back-projected home movies during the kids' recreation of a 1960's love-in party. The film's sluggish pace suddenly picks up toward the end when a series of events wrap up the loose ends of the story in too pat a manner including a totally unnecessary epilogue. Ellen Kuras's cinematography is almost too prettified given her predilection for impressionistic set-up shots. Miller shows signs of her father Arthur Miller's gravitas in her story, but she needs to work on maintaining interest in her film as the plot unfolds. Truth be told, I fell asleep twice before I could see the movie to the end. There are no extras with the DVD other than a few trailers for this and other independent films in release.

A marvelous piece of acting

[JohnDeSando · 10/10 · 11 May 2005]

My pick for male Oscar winner so far this year is Daniel Day-Lewis as an eccentric father of a precocious girl in The Ballad of Jack and Rose.

I don't think the bard suggested incest on the menu for Prospero and Miranda, but in this ballad dad and daughter alone on a remote peninsula off the East coast are not fighting just real estate developers and dad's lovers, they are dealing with incestuous feelings so subtly relayed that even our delicately Christian president might not be offended.

I have five beautiful daughters in the healthiest of relationships, but that a man alone with a bright, loving, free-spirited daughter could go to the dark side is the genius of this parable about the difficulties of living outside societal norms, which sometimes are fortunately restrictive of baser instincts.

Day-Lewis's conflicted protagonist is a marvelous piece of acting, the best of his career, and the most interesting this year.

good indie about outsiders looking away

[DJJOEINC · 7/10 · 27 May 2007]

The Ballad of Jack & Rose A compelling look @ a father and daughter on an island commune-Daniel day Lewis shares his own island refuge with his 13 year old daughter- they live off the land - it is idyllic,peaceful,perfect- but Jack is getting sick and he needs help.It is hard for me to be objective about this film- since I was snagged from Suburbia by my parents and subjected to farm life for most of my formative years.They did a good job capturing the good and bad parts of living off the land.But of course all things must have act 2 conflicts-Beau Bridges is an evil developer building cookie-cutter dwellings(It is frustrating how generic housing is now) and Katherine Keener is sort of hired to be a surrogate mom for Rose- the experiment yields drama.This is a well told and acted flick and will probably hit home for other granola generation offspring like myself. B+

What is this movie about???

[modgirl-3 · 3/10 · 21 August 2005]

I thought this was truly going to be a story about a man who wanted to raise his daughter in a specific way - "green" the descriptions said. Okay - I get that. So the movie starts, and there is a man and his daughter, but I cannot figure out their history or current story. There is definitely something not quite right about not only their relationship, but the daughter. She seems otherworldly, but not in a good way. So far out there that quite possibly she would never be redeemed. I am left to assume that this is a throwback to the hippy generation and somebody's misguided attempt to show that "the life" of communes and living on the land with no actual need for not only the necessities, but the standards, of modern day was the way to go and the rest of us really missed the boat. That's one ship on which I am happy not to have sailed! At least I know why I have never seen this movie associated with Daniel Day Lewis or one of my favorite actresses, Catherine Keener. This work was quite below what they are able to give. The end? I'm still shaking my head and rolling my eyes.

A Graceful if Sad Nod to the Past

[gradyharp · 10/10 · 17 August 2005]

Rebecca Miller has written and directed another fine film that probes the consequences of the passage of time and life, finding incongruities in ideals and realities impacting everyday people. The result is a film of tenderness and dashed hopes and unconditional love between a father and daughter.

Jack Slavin (Daniel Day-Lewis) is a Scottish immigrant who mentally still lives in the 1960s, full of adoration of nature and the idealistic expectations of the Hippies reacting against a country at war with Vietnam. He and his daughter Rose (Camilla Belle) now (in 1986) live in a deserted hippie commune on an island off the East Coast of the USA. Their relationship is idyllic, living off the land, at one with nature. Jack has heart failure and worries about the fate of his isolated Rose almost as much as he loathes the inevitable encroachment of land developers such as Marty Rance (Beau Bridges) who is building houses on the precious wetlands on the opposite side of Jack's island.

Jack seeks to solve (control) problems: he invites his girlfriend Kathleen (Catherine Keener) and her two sons Rodney (Ryan McDonald) and Thaddius (Paul Dano) to enlarge his family at the old commune, and he confronts Marty with threats that he will destroy the development project. Once the extended family is formed, Rose views Jack having sex with Kathleen, decides she must 'grow up' and attempts to enter womanhood by unsuccessfully seducing Rodney and ultimately losing her virginity to Thaddius, an event she makes public by hanging her stained banner sheet on the windswept clothesline. Jack reacts in rage then anguish at his failure to provide a secure, healthy future for Rose, and in time gives in to the developers and draws Rose back to him in a final scene that is one of the most touching farewells on film.

Daniel Day-Lewis is so completely immersed in his character that he never for a moment loses our compassion. The entire cast is excellent, the pacing of this sensitive script is extraordinary, and the entire production crew (cinematography, music, editing, etc) shares the sense of commitment to Miller's direction. This is a genuinely touching film completely without the saccharine tones that could have overtaken the story. Highly Recommended. Grady Harp