The Ballad of Jack and Rose
reviewed by Sam Osborn of www.samseescinema.com
rating: 2 out of 4
United States, 2005
U.S. Release Date: 4/08/06 (limited)
Running Length: 1:52
MPAA Classification: R (language, sexual content and some drug
material)
Director: Rebecca Miller
Cast: Daniel Day-Lewis, Camilla Belle, Catherine Keener, Paul Dano,
Ryan McDonald, Jena Malone
Screenplay: Rebecca Miller
Producer: Lemore Syvan
Cinematography: Ellen Kuras
Editing: Sabine Hoffmann
Music: Michael Rohatyn
U.S. Distributor: IFC Films
It's always been my philosophy that films aren't required to carry
a message. A film simply needs to tell a story. A film is good when it
can tell a good story and tell it like it needs to be told. This is why
films like Kill Bill can be rated on the same scale as such meaningful
dramas as Finding Neverland and Ray. It's all about the story. But
The Ballad of Jack and Rose seems to struggle with this concept.
Director/writer Rebecca Miller seems to want to make her film more
about her characters and not about a message on the state of society,
but constantly wanders into didactic realms that leave her audience
muddled and confused. She creates a myriad of stereotypic characters
that all stand for different morals, but in the end, doesn't really
tell us what she herself stands for. Instead of sticking to characters
and story, she heavy handedly throws dozens of different messages at us
that all contradict the last. We're left walking out of the theatre
wondering what Rebecca Miller wants us to believe, but really not
caring enough to decipher her message.
The film focuses on a single father and his peculiar relationship with
his daughter Rose (Camilla Belle). The father, Jack (Daniel Day-Lewis)
lives on an island off the east coast of the United States on land that
he set up in the seventies as a collective society for people who
wanted to escape from the materialistic ways of a capitalist country.
The land comes complete with a room dedicated entirely to tripping
acid. He's raised his daughter in complete isolation of the world,
determined to make her different from the rest of the cookie-cutter
children from America's suburbs. But disease has gotten the best of
him and he's now faced with finding a guardian for Rose before his
death. So he brings in Kathleen (Catherine Keener) and her boys,
Thaddius (Paul Dano) and Rodney (Ryan McDonald), to live in the house
and act as Rose's mother when he's passed. Of course, a culture
clash occurs between Rose and the newcomers, with jealousy and sexual
awakenings at every turn of the reel. Rose is as innocent and wide-eyed
as a three-year old, but eager to get back at her dad for bringing the
world to their doorstep. It carries on like this for nearly two hours,
pulling out as many independent film clichés as possible, with
biblical references, shaky cameras, and "realistic" drama littering
the film and ratcheting it a few notches down in intelligence.
But its obvious Rebecca Miller had a vision for her movie. Some of her
characters, Jack in particular, are truly inspired. And the camera work
is sometimes beautiful, especially in the beginning. But too many times
can we see how Miller uses her characters simply as puppets for her
message. For instance, Kathleen's the white trash mother who raises
Thaddius, the perverted teenager who belongs in jail. And Rodney's
the nice boy who's been raised on the television and struggles with
his weight, being the plague of America these days. Jack's the hippy
father who contradicts the American dream every chance he gets, and his
daughter represents Eve or the Virgin Mary whose innocence eventually
gets the best of her.
The characters just don't hold any weight. They stumble around all
trying to prove a point that Rebecca Miller fails at interpreting to
the audience. And sometimes it seems that she wants to ditch the moral
and focus on the characters; but The Ballad of Jack and Rose is much
too heavy-handed to not carry a message. You see, I'm frankly
confused by this film. I walked out of theatre not sure what Miller
wanted me to believe. She made dozens of points in the final act, but
each one contradicted the last, making her film into an incoherent
mess. This would all be excusable though if she had managed to tell the
story of Jack and Rose skillfully. But, alas, she doesn't. Sticking
to her moral guns, Miller ruins her Ballad with "indie" clichés
and half-assed messages on society, making her film less of a song and
more of a groan.
-Sam Osborn
www.samseescinema.com
========== X-RAMR-ID: 39690 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 1382837 X-RT-TitleID: 1143793 X-RT-SourceID: 1677 X-RT-AuthorID: 11589 X-RT-RatingText: 2/4
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