There's a terrific short film buried in Ballast.
Comment
10/02/08
Ballast (2008)
88
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:48
Fresh:42
Rotten:6
Average Rating:7.4/10
Consensus: A searing debut by director Lance Hammer, this subtle and contemplative Mississippi set drama lingers long after its conclusion.
Theatrical Release:Oct 1, 2008 Limited
Synopsis: Winner of numerous prizes at prestigious film festivals all around the world, including Sundance, San Francisco, and Buenos Aires, BALLAST is a stunning, emotionally powerful feature-film debut... [More]
Starring: Michael J. Smith, JimMyron Ross, Tarra Riggs, Johnny McPhail
Director: Lance Hammer
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Reviews for Ballast
Even as it stubbornly resists any sense of closure, it cautiously reminds its characters and its audience that hope, and the future it promises, is sometimes more a matter of conviction than revelation.
11/14/08
The movie is a beacon of independent filmmaking, not simply because Hammer opted more or less to self-distribute it, but because it's evident that we're a million miles away from Hollywood.
10/31/08
Top CriticHammer's script is spare and pertinent, without a wasted syllable, giving his characters believable voices against the bleak and grey canvas of the Delta farmlands, stunningly photographed by Lol Crawley.
10/02/08
Lance Hammer shot this debut feature in natural light, using nonprofessional actors, and with its jump cuts, music-free soundtrack, and plaintive Mississippi Delta landscapes it seems as raw as the characters' emotions.
10/30/08
I always say I hardly ever cry at sad films, but I sometimes do, just a little, at films about good people.
10/30/08
Top CriticBallast 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.
10/31/08
Top CriticBallast 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.
11/07/08
Both the script and the performances keep audiences at a distance; Hammer deliberately avoids scenes or moments that would make sympathy or identification easy.
10/18/08
It's really just Indie Filmmaking 101; the hand-held shaky-cam work and jump-cutting go all the way back to Breathless (1959), if not a million other films.
06/07/08
Ultimately, it's a satisfying character study, even if it ends much like far too many Romanian movies without a real conclusion or resolution.
10/03/08
Transports us headlong into the bleak lives of some residents in the Missippi Delta.
09/16/08
With spare and minimalist yet powerful strokes, Ballast, the feature debut of the gifted Lance Hammer, captures a slice of African American life in the Mississippi Delta in a way that recalls the early lyrical work of Charles Burnett (Killer of Sheep).
01/25/08
As the movie comes into focus, you feel the lives of the characters echoing backward through time.
10/01/08
Top CriticIt's an impressive directorial debut that will leave viewers speechless at the end--not necessarily in a good sense.
10/08/08
The Mississippi Delta was the birth place of the blues, and Ballast gives the region a comparable visual expression for both frustration and the resolve to survive.
11/01/08
A bona fide critic's darling
09/30/08
This is a cinematic tone poem, where the dominant mood is a Faulknerian mix of sorrow and endurance...
11/21/08
An impressive and courageous filmmaking debut that screams Sundance for all the right reasons.
10/18/08
Top CriticThe audio is occupied by only the sounds the characters make ... moments of silence open up an emotional void.
10/11/08
Latest News for Ballast
January 03, 2009:
Awards Daily Top Ten: Stinging emotional truth and raw grit, stark in its simplicity. But captivating to behold, as these wounded lives flow into ours with all the natural, unassuming spontaneity of strangers we come to know and to care about enormously. 
More...
December 08, 2008:
Roger Ebert Ranks 2008's 20 Best Films
December isn't even halfway over yet, and many of us have already had our fill of year-end lists -- but Roger Ebert's list of the 20 best films of 2008 is one worth making an... More...
December 03, 2008:
Independent Spirit Award Nominations Announced
The Independent Spirits have announced their nominations for this year's awards. Frozen River, Rachel Getting Married, Ballast, Wendy And Lucy and The Wrestler are all up for... More...
December 03, 2008:
Gothams Dive Into Frozen River
"Frozen River" was the big winner at Tuesday's 18th annual Gotham Independent Film Awards, taking home two of the six prizes, including best feature. More...
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