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Ballast
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Metascore
84 out of 100

Universal acclaim - based on 24 Critics What's this?

User Score
9.0 out of 10

Universal acclaim- based on 8 Ratings

Your Score
10 out of 10
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  • Starring: JimMyron Ross, Micheal J. Smith Sr., Tarra Riggs
  • Summary: In the cold, winter light of a rural Mississippi Delta township, a man’s suicide radically transforms three characters’ lives and throws off-balance what has long been a static arrangement among them. Marlee is a single mother struggling to scratch a living for herself and James, her 12-year-old son, who has begun to stumble under drug and violence pressures. So when the opportunity to seek safe harbor at a new home arises, she grabs it, though the property is shared by Lawrence, a man with whom Marlee has feuded bitterly since James’s birth. With circumstances thrusting them into proximity, a subtle interdependence and common purpose emerge for Marlee and Lawrence as they navigate grief, test new waters, and tentatively move forward. (Alluvial Film Company)… Expand

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 23 out of 24
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 24
  3. Negative: 0 out of 24
  1. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    100
    Ballast inexorably grows and deepens and gathers power and absorbs us. I always say I hardly ever cry at sad films, but I sometimes do, just a little, at films about good people.
  2. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Michael Phillips
    100
    Ballast strikes me as one of the few American pictures of 2008 to say what it wants to say, visually and narratively, about a specific situation and part of the country, in a way that transcends regional specifics.
  3. Christian Science Monitor
    Reviewed by: Peter Rainer
    50
    Ballast lacks ballast. Much praised by aficionados of minimalist indie cinema – hey, who needs a plot when you've got mood? – it's a wearying slog through anomie in a Mississippi Delta township.

See all 24 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 2
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 2
  3. Negative: 0 out of 2
  1. MarkKammel
    10
    Director Lance Hammer tells a quiet and personal story, with amazing performances by non-actors. Director of photography, Lol Crawley, beautifully moves the story along with an even more personal handheld camera, documenting the empty Mississippi delta. Ballast is a tragically unheard of film which will always remain a gem to those who have viewed it.… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  2. movie2187
    10
    With no hip hop soundtrack or flashy editing, Ballast is one of the truest portraits of family dynamics and seemingly real characters (which is hard to find in hollywood's portrayal of black people) This film is completely absorbing and natural and never falls into independent filmmaking stereotypes neither (sure, it's quiet but it is for a reason rather than using silence as a cover up for a lack of ideals) Also the cinematography is amazing, no shaky "indie" camera work. It proves that just because a film has no budget it does not have to look like it.… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes