Ballast (2008)
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
| Tomatometer | Critic | Review | Category |
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 3.5/4 |
Has the sparse purity of barren trees and the brutal intimacy of a broken vow. Full Review |
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B+ |
... the cinematic equivalent of a miniature, a piece carved out of the stories of three troubled and damaged souls... Full Review |
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B |
The overall thrust of the story -- that downtrodden folks in desperate circumstances have the capacity for goodness -- is one too rarely seen. Full Review |
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3/4 |
Debut writer/director Lance Hammer has rendered [Ballast] with something that can only be called radiant austerity. Full Review |
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This ostensibly simple film evokes whole lives in 96 minutes, and does so with sparse dialogue. Full Review |
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3.5/5 |
Ballast is a movie that insinuates itself, and forces you to think about it later, and that alone makes it stand out. Full Review |
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3/4 |
This is a cinematic tone poem, where the dominant mood is a Faulknerian mix of sorrow and endurance... Full Review |
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3.5/4 |
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. Full Review |
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3/4 |
What this unclassifiable story may lack in decibels, it has in emotional depth. Full Review |
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 C |
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. Full Review |
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4.5/5 |
This austere, rigorous film has a sense of place, a feeling for reality so compelling it makes us feel like we're living it, not just watching on a screen. Full Review |
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The direct, shimmering minimalism with which Hammer tells his story also gets to some fairly real, universal stuff. Full Review |
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Ballast is an impressive first feature. Full Review |
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7/10 |
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. Full Review |
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3/4 |
A mildly subversive storyline is presented in the most inoffensive way possible. Full Review |
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4/4 |
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. Full Review |
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4/4 |
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. Full Review |
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A film that has, for lack of a less overused critical phrase, haunted me since I saw it. There's a deep sadness in Lawrence, Marlee, and James' eyes that is very hard to shake. Full Review |
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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. Full Review |
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4/4 |
I always say I hardly ever cry at sad films, but I sometimes do, just a little, at films about good people. Full Review |
CommentLatest 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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