Ballast

2008

Ballast

Critics Consensus

A searing debut by director Lance Hammer, this subtle and contemplative Mississippi set drama lingers long after its conclusion.

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Ballast Photos

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Movie Info

In the cold, winter light of a rural Mississippi Delta township, a man's suicide radically transforms three character's 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.

Rating:

NR
Genre:

Art House & International, Drama
Directed By:

Lance Hammer
Written By:

Lance Hammer
In Theaters:

Oct 1, 2008 wide
On Disc/Streaming:

Nov 10, 2009
Box Office:

$100,000
Runtime:

96 minutes
Studio:

Alluvial Film Company

Cast

Micheal J. Smith Sr.
as Lawrence

JimMyron Ross
as James

Tarra Riggs
as Marlee

Michael J. Smith Sr.
as Lawrence

Johnny McPhail
as John

Jeremy Jordan
as Paramedic

Ventress Bonner

Steve Cabell
as Paramedic

Jimez Alexander

Jean Paul Guillory

Sam Dobbins
as Ambulance Driver

Marcus Alexander

Dr. Sanjib Shrestha
as Dr. Shrestha

Carol Higgins Clark
as Nurse

Marquice Alexander

Lance Anderson
as Radiology

Lawrence Jackson

Albert Jay Levy
as Social Worker

Patricia Lee
as Marlee's Neighbor

Zachary Coleman
as Attorney

View All

News & Interviews for Ballast

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Frozen River, The Wackness Lead 2008 Sundance Winners

View All

Critic Reviews for Ballast

All Critics (79) | Top Critics (27) | Fresh (73) | Rotten (6)

Quote not available.

November 18, 2011 | Rating: 3/5

Ben Kenigsberg
Time Out
Top Critic
Quote not available.

November 17, 2011 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…

Joshua Rothkopf
Time Out
Top Critic
The opening half hour is electrifying, the ending interestingly open-ended...

March 22, 2011 | Full Review…

Philip French
Guardian
Top Critic
Quite a debut here from writer-director Lance Hammer, working on a minuscule budget in the Mississippi Delta, and evoking a memorably forlorn kind of regional specificity.

March 18, 2011 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…

Tim Robey
Daily Telegraph (UK)
Top Critic
Quote not available.

March 18, 2011 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…

Anthony Quinn
Independent (UK)
Top Critic
A difficult, subdued film, but intelligent and with more intricacy and subtlety than at first appears.

March 17, 2011 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…

Peter Bradshaw
Guardian
Top Critic
This moving debut effort combines edgy camerawork, a stark story and a cast of inspired non-professionals.

June 2, 2020 | Full Review…

David Lamble
Bay Area Reporter
Ballast packs a punch and its raw, visceral quality is hard to forget.

December 24, 2018 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…

Lucy Popescu
CineVue
Its sense of space and time contains not only sadness and boredom, but something more curious, the resilience of newly born hope, like a slender green spike emerging out of the soil.

August 22, 2017 | Full Review…

Dorothy Woodend
The Tyee (British Columbia)
Ballast, if anything, is spellbound by location, and we all know what a spell will do.

June 14, 2016 | Full Review…

Nathan Kosub
Stop Smiling
Worth seeing as an example of the lengths to which a filmmaker will go to establish his career - but don't ever mistake it for sociology.

August 15, 2011 | Full Review…

Kelly Vance
East Bay Express
His brilliant "Ballast" was as much a hit in Seattle as it was at Sundance.

July 29, 2011 | Full Review…

Brandon Judell
GreenCine

View All Critic Reviews (79)

Audience Reviews for Ballast

Jul 17, 2011

One of those no-soundtrack, no-action, mumbling dialog dramas, this time about a penniless single mother - reclusive brother in law- errant son triangle. It did nothing for me.

Lesley N Super Reviewer
Dec 13, 2010

"Ballast" is simply one of the deepest moving pictures I have seen in a long time. The story is about three people who live a life of poverty, despair, and sadness in Mississippi Delta. The first time watching this was tough due to the slow pace of the picture but gradually this is one of Lance Hammer's strong strengths because he patiently giving his characters life and a the start of a future. I really admired the mother Marlee played by Tarra Riggs. Her character was the most fascinating to me. What took me by surprise is how she becomes a leader. A REAL leader while slowly building a foundation. Lawrence (Michael J. Smith) is Marlee's sister-in-law and Marlee's son James (JimMyron Ross) who at first hangs out with troublemakers then realizes they are using him. There is also a fourth character who goes by the name of John (Johnny McPhail). Not much is known except that he seems to be a good neighbour(John found Lawrence shot and called paramedics for help. When Lawrence is healed, John checks on Lawrence to make sure he's alright). Overall "Ballast" is a paridigm picture that I didn't expect. This picture is an honest way of seeing real people doing things real people would do in the real world. Lance Hammer's picture also made me wonder and say "There is hope in life. There is real hope for those who are unfortunate".

Brian R Super Reviewer
Aug 22, 2010

A minimalist film, but with a lot of heart and emotion. No glitz or glam here - just a peek into the life of a family. Great performances from the cast.

Sarah P Super Reviewer
Aug 22, 2010

Ballast looks beautiful, and I want to see what Lance Hammer does next, but someone needs to kick the shit out of this kid.

matt s Super Reviewer