The outlines are broad and obvious, and Thomas such a bore, that The Black Balloon loses air.
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04/08/09
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The Black Balloon (2008)
90
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Reviews Counted:39
Fresh:35
Rotten:4
Average Rating:7/10
Consensus: A tender and witty portrayal of a family coping with autism, The Black Balloon is heartfelt without being schmaltzy or moralizing.
Theatrical Release:Dec 5, 2008 Limited
Synopsis: The Black Balloon is a story about fitting in, discovering love, and accepting your family. It’s not easy being Thomas. He’s turning sixteen; and moving into a new house, and school. His older... [More]
Starring: Rhys Wakefield, Luke Ford, Toni Collette, Erik Thomson
Director: Elissa Down
Reviews for The Black Balloon
It’s a very auspicious debut for this young Australian filmmaker.
03/19/08
A film that mostly skirts artifice and sentimentality for a truer portrait of a family battered and bruised but nowhere near broken.
04/09/09
Structurally and cinematically, The Black Balloon sticks to the coming-of-age basics, but [director] Down has a gift for conveying time and place.
04/02/09
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04/23/09
The Black Balloon establishes this family with a delicate mixture of tenderness and pain.
04/10/09
Top CriticAt its sharpest Elissa Down’s feature directorial debut is guided by intense, rough-edged emotional swings that feel authentically alive, even when the script settles for tidiness.
04/10/09
Top CriticWhere Baz Luhrmann's 'Australia' is bloated, this Aussie pic is a look at a single family in a suburban Australia town, a group that are alternately heartwarming and frustrating.
11/20/08
Toni Collette gives it the old Little Miss Sunshine try in The Black Balloon as an edge-of-kooky, very pregnant mama presiding over a chaotic household.
12/03/08
Top CriticSmall Aussie family drama about a likeable teen's acceptance of his severely disturbed older brother is a sweet and sunny charmer that will be a tough sell at theatres but should find its way home to smaller screens.
12/08/08
Director/writer draws on her personal experiences with frank honesty to lift this up from just another heartwarming movie about a family living with a special-needs teen.
12/05/08
Young love triumphs in a terrific Australian indie that deals with autism in an authentic, unsentimental way.
03/06/08
The Black Balloon courses with a firsthand feel for languorous Aussie summers, the shifting scales of love and hate in sibling relationships, and the earned wit that helps families cope with difficult situations.
12/04/08
This unblinking family drama packs a visceral punch. Thomas' journey toward acceptance is blessedly free of noble lessons and filled with real people.
12/05/08
Feels stitched together from countless coming of age tales and dramas with mentally impaired characters.
12/04/08
The Black Balloon is marked by the fiercest bravery you're likely to encounter on screen this year.
04/16/09
The Black Balloon, a splendid Australian film about a teenager and his older autistic brother, gets it, from the happy/sad imagery of the title through the uplifting, but not saccharine, finale.
03/06/09
It's a film about a supposedly real-world set-up that never feels true, even though the people who made it clearly set out to treat their subject matter and the audience with respect.
03/06/09
This small gem has a very satisfying ending.
12/05/08
Top CriticThe blooming puppy love between Thomas and Jackie lends The Black Balloon a welcome strain of tenderness. Mr. Wakefield and Ms. Ward project the innocence of shy, sensitive young people for whom a tentative shared kiss is a very big deal.
12/05/08
Top CriticLatest News for The Black Balloon
December 09, 2008:
Trailer & Poster review 
More...
December 07, 2008:
The Black Balloon wins big at the AFIs
Check out the frocks, shocks, trophies and tantrums at the AFI Awards. More...
July 01, 2008:
Edinburgh 2008: What to Watch
We share twenty of the best films screened at the Edinburgh International Film Festival, currently running in the Scottish city. More...
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