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Ballad of Jack and Rose, The
Mixed or average reviews
Based on 35 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 14 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info
Genre(s): Drama
Written by: Rebecca Miller
Directed by: Rebecca Miller
Release Date:
Theatrical: March 25, 2005
DVD: August 16, 2005
Running Time: 111 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: R for language, sexual content and some drug material
Starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Catherine Keener, Camilla Belle, Paul Dano, Ryan McDonald, Beau Bridges, Anna Mae Clinton, Jason Lee, Jena Malone, and Susanna Thompson
A powerful and poetic feature about a man (Day-Lewis) who has cut himself off from the world that refuses to live up to his ideals, and a young girl's sensual coming-of-age. (IFC Films)
Also On Metacritic
FILM: Personal Velocity
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum
Miller's theme is innocence, the loss of it, and the reclamation of equanimity in the face of that loss, and the music she makes is haunting.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan
Powered by an exceptional performance by Daniel Day-Lewis, this artfully disturbing film is a compelling, imaginative look at the potent emotional bond that forms not between romantic lovers but between fathers and daughters.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian M. E. Russell
Daniel Day-Lewis may be one of our great actors, but he trips over a few Method-acting speed bumps in wife Rebecca Miller's third writer-director effort.
Read Full Review >Newsweek David Ansen
Day-Lewis, who imbues Jack with a ravaged, Keith Richards charisma, is once again extraordinary.
Read Full Review >Time Richard Corliss
The film doesn't scale Shakespearean heights, but it does give its star a nicely gnarled ogre to play.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum
Doesn't succeed in everything it sets out to do, which is a lot. But as a statement about the death rattle of 60s counterculture it's both thoughtful and affecting, and Daniel Day-Lewis is mesmerizing.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Stephen Cole
We leave this movie hoping to see Miller and Lewis together again soon.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey
A gut-punch of a movie, a potent, mesmerizing drama.
Read Full Review >Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt
Smart and engrossing, if too heavy on the symbolism at times.
Read Full Review >ReelViews James Berardinelli
Camilla Belle is an impressive newcomer - this could be her breakthrough appearance.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer Paula Nechak
A difficult movie. Its obvious, heavy symbolism, glaring soundtrack and top-heavy themes threaten to make it implode, but it's saved by its performances.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Ella Taylor
One of those passionately atmospheric movies, like Jane Campion's "The Piano," that sounds idiotic on paper, but whose ambiance, charged with eros, rage, regret and optimism, is strangely moving.
Read Full Review >Premiere Peter Debruge
One of those novelistic independent films more concerned with atmosphere and character than the particularities of narrative, where contemplating the backstory is more satisfying than anything we see.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Jami Bernard
Phenomenal acting, plus intelligent direction and themes, put The Ballad of Jack and Rose above other indie films about loss of innocence. At the same time, there is something garish about watching a father and daughter struggle with the snake of incest in their ill-advised Garden of Eden.
Read Full Review >New York Post Kyle Smith
If one enjoyed manufacturing symbols as much as Miller, one might speculate that Rose is Rebecca Miller, aching to be her own artist, and Jack is Arthur.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington
But the film disappoints, partly because it inspires such large expectations.
Read Full Review >Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern
Has density enough for several films. What's missing is spontaneity, and variety. And, throughout most of the narrative, velocity.
TV Guide Maitland McDonagh
By the time it reaches its fiery finale, the film feels less mythic than self-consciously portentous.
Read Full Review >The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt
Shaky story and predictable developments make this an off-key ballad.
Read Full Review >Variety Todd McCarthy
Well-wrought individual scenes and sharply focused acting provide Rebecca Miller's third feature with a measure of gravity, but too much abrupt, even melodramatic behavior and undigested psychological matter leave nagging dissatisfactions.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Jessica Winter
Day-Lewis is as rooted as an oak in his character and milieu, yet easefully disengaged from the film's pensive histrionics.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Ann Hornaday
Often seems less like a fully realized film than an illustrated story, its paragraphs reduced to neatly contrived set pieces.
Read Full Review >Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman
"Velocity" told multiple stories, each lasting half an hour, but "Ballad" wears out one tale before its end.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez
Miller has crafted some intriguing, complex characters and stranded them in a muddled story that doesn't know quite what to do with them.
Read Full Review >Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir
I feel prodigious emotion underneath the pretty, preserved features of The Ballad of Jack and Rose, channeled into a vehicle that's a half-successful imitation of "You Can Count on Me" or "In the Bedroom."
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten
Strong performances and Miller's equivocal stance toward her characters save the movie from its symbolic overload and melodramatic crash course, but in the end there may be less here than meets the eye.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Wesley Morris
If only Miller's writing had some human zest. Nearly everybody here is crunchy, salt-of-the-earth organic, and off in a dreamland.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Desson Thomson
An engaging battle between terrific acting and a flawed script.
Read Full Review >Film Threat Jeremy Mathews
Might not have been a bad film if its characters never said anything and some obnoxious visual metaphors were removed.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Manohla Dargis
Ms. Miller has attempted to elevate a small Oedipal story about two damaged souls into a grandiloquent epic, Shakespeare by way of Bob Dylan. She misses by a significantly wide mark, largely because she loves her monster too much and his victim too little.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Keith Phipps
Some good Bob Dylan songs are called in to underline the big moments, but end up eclipsing them instead. There's more drama and insight in a snippet of "One More Cup Of Coffee" than the entirety of Jack & Rose.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 6.9 (out of 10) based on 14 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Amurabi M. gave it a6:
Charged of forced symbolism, the third feature of Rebecca Miller feels a little bit contradictorial. Yes, we have a Oedipal story (in this case, an Electra Complex) with a little twisted, provoking and dsiturbing touch. We have the idea of a metaphor of love between fathers and daughters and the reactions in front a change. But we have too, some kind of pretentiousness; a kind of artistic snobism and some indie cliches. Rebecca Miller have the sense to use some great actors (including Jena Malone, Jason Lee and Paul Dano) to make the story believable and real. The trouble comes with the sense of the script, thet looks a little bit self conscious of its pomp and arrogance. We enjoy the pace, yes, but we feel a little bit saturated of intelectualism as a trick to cover the flaws of the narrative. In a general sense, regular.
Felix M. gave it a2:
Boring and pointless when pointless and boring will do. Catherine Keener has become less interesting as time goes by. It's been years since she's surprised me. luckily my drink had enough caffiene to keep me awake through the whole thing.
Chad S. gave it an8:
Both "The Ballad of Jack and Rose"(not counting the epilogue) and "The Amityville Horror" end in the same way, which is a bizarre fluke, but then you think about the lives of Jack and Rose, and there's the realization that their house is every bit as haunted. In "Personal Velocity", her "short-story collection", Rebecca Miller was in love with the voice-over. In "The Ballad of Jack and Rose", "her novel", Miller seems to have a thing for Bob Dylan. These excesses are easy to forgive because this is a confident filmmaker who assumes her audience is intelligent. I even like the snake. People who read will like the snake, too. Martha McPhee, author of "Bright Angel Time" and "Gorgeous Lies" must be thinking, "Damn, I have a better 'death rattle of 60s counterculture' story than this." McPhee can also argue that Miller borrows from her, too. In "Gorgeous Lies", the counter-culture protagonist is less of a monster than he appeared in its predecessor "Bright Angel Time". It's all a matter of point-of-view, like Miller's, who doesn't seem to know that Jack is a complete, utter jackass for turning Rose into a well-adjusted Nell (this is in reference to the Jodie Foster movie).
Vince H. gave it a7:
I am almost in complete agreeance with Laura Sinagra from The Voice. The acting all around here is excellent (Day-Lewis is spectacular and turns in his best perf. since "In the Name of the Father" IMO) and Camilla Belle is also very good. In fact all the actors bring conviction and dedication to their performances, but overall even they cannot rise above Miller's paper-thin and dramatically flat script. I was a huge fan of Miller's "Personal Velocity", and somehow on that project and here Miller and Ellen Kuras are able to beautifully and lyrically communicate subtletly and nuance within the framework of a scene in a wonderful way. Miller clearly has a gift for working with actors and her sensitvive and heartfelt affection for the material is evident in each frame, the problem is the script. Too many scenes feel way too contrieved and over-written, and certain scenes (snakes escaping during a deflowering, a party in a commune acid-pad) are not only completely unbelievable but are like scenes from a 16-year old girl's better-than-average short story. I give this a 5 for the terrific acting and Ellen Kuras' stunning photography.
deb g. gave it a10:
Fabulous performances. Well, at least it's different. Great music.
ngroth r. gave it a10:
Outstanding daniel, as always!
sally gave it a10:
An excellent tale of lost innocence. Daniel Day-Lewis is extraordinary!
