"The Ballad of Jack and Rose" is a subtle character based drama about a father and daughter living a rather bucolic lifestyle only for it to get shattered by three newbies who arrived on the scene. Sure the characters were well fleshed out, but that's what this film has to offer and nothing more. Sure these individuals lives have changed which was handled very well be writer/director Rebecca Miller. She brings life into these characters and gives them the liberation to flourish in their status quo.
The story has a bit of a modernized version of The Garden of Eden along with snakes in both the figurative and literal sense. At most this film is just saturated with symbolism made famous by her playwright father Arthur Miller. Jack Slavin (Daniel Day-Lewis) and is daughter Rose (Camilla Belle) have lived in solidarity in a commune on an island in the American East Coast. They live off the land resourcefully by organically growing their own food and utilize in providing their own electricity via windmills and don't rely on anyone outside their domain. The only non-resident who come by is a gardener named Gray (Jason Lee) who offers Rose flowers to plant, since being in her garden is where she spends most of her days. When news that Jack is dying from a heart condition, he fears that when dies Rose will likely soon follow. He then soon invites a middle-aged lady named Kathleen (Catherine Keener) and her two sons Rodney and Thaddius (Ryan McDonald and Paul Dano) to be house guests permanently. This surprises and unsettles Rose as she shifts her innocent ways and a swift turn on her father Jack.
The balancing of this movie is to pave ways to certain components contrary to one another consumerism against idealism, sting in the past or moving on, making strides or staying putt. Miller succeeds in handling these issues unbiased. There are both good and bad sides to everything. Unfortunately,Jack's pro-stagnation beliefs can clearly and understandably be contrasted by Marty Rance's (Beau Bridges) pro-progression and the conflicts between them can be proven very inane at times. It is really forced down our throats that Jack is the protagonist and the worse thing is that Jack knows it.
The aforementioned snake that causes the inevitable break-up between Jack and Kathleen which leads to her and her two sons to part ways leads to the return of Rose's back on happy terms again. Jack and Rose were okay before Kathleen and her sons came into their lives. Sex plays a pivotal role here as Jack and Kathleen take themselves to a place of consummate where they commit intercourse, instead of feeling warm inside, you feel the intensity burning in Rose's eyes as jealousy starts to manifest in her head. There's even a point where she becomes nearly homicidal as she tries to murder Kathleen or even her father. While this is happening, Rose feels that she herself could find a way to lose her virginity.
Some people go through such great lengths to fit into those roles they even sacrifice their own bodies to make us feel sympathy for them. Daniel Day-Lewis did just that as when bare-chested he looks gaunt and semi-skeletal in appearance. Even though he's under his wife, Miller's direction, we know he can always muster in a great performance without being a slacker. Camilla Belle who is not a household name in Hollywood displays great acting which could feel like a breakthrough performance for her. Catherine Keener is great as always showing just how versatile she is as a performer.
Sure the contrivances are quite frequent in "The Ballad of Jack and Rose", but it all gets concealed due to likable characters that we don't ever observe them. Sure the pace is slower than molasses, but it was done on purpose by Miller, can make fans feel very unsettled by it. I agree, it is losing a turtle race in its pacing, but this gives the characters ample time to develop and to make the audience become invested in them.
The story has a bit of a modernized version of The Garden of Eden along with snakes in both the figurative and literal sense. At most this film is just saturated with symbolism made famous by her playwright father Arthur Miller. Jack Slavin (Daniel Day-Lewis) and is daughter Rose (Camilla Belle) have lived in solidarity in a commune on an island in the American East Coast. They live off the land resourcefully by organically growing their own food and utilize in providing their own electricity via windmills and don't rely on anyone outside their domain. The only non-resident who come by is a gardener named Gray (Jason Lee) who offers Rose flowers to plant, since being in her garden is where she spends most of her days. When news that Jack is dying from a heart condition, he fears that when dies Rose will likely soon follow. He then soon invites a middle-aged lady named Kathleen (Catherine Keener) and her two sons Rodney and Thaddius (Ryan McDonald and Paul Dano) to be house guests permanently. This surprises and unsettles Rose as she shifts her innocent ways and a swift turn on her father Jack.
The balancing of this movie is to pave ways to certain components contrary to one another consumerism against idealism, sting in the past or moving on, making strides or staying putt. Miller succeeds in handling these issues unbiased. There are both good and bad sides to everything. Unfortunately,Jack's pro-stagnation beliefs can clearly and understandably be contrasted by Marty Rance's (Beau Bridges) pro-progression and the conflicts between them can be proven very inane at times. It is really forced down our throats that Jack is the protagonist and the worse thing is that Jack knows it.
The aforementioned snake that causes the inevitable break-up between Jack and Kathleen which leads to her and her two sons to part ways leads to the return of Rose's back on happy terms again. Jack and Rose were okay before Kathleen and her sons came into their lives. Sex plays a pivotal role here as Jack and Kathleen take themselves to a place of consummate where they commit intercourse, instead of feeling warm inside, you feel the intensity burning in Rose's eyes as jealousy starts to manifest in her head. There's even a point where she becomes nearly homicidal as she tries to murder Kathleen or even her father. While this is happening, Rose feels that she herself could find a way to lose her virginity.
Some people go through such great lengths to fit into those roles they even sacrifice their own bodies to make us feel sympathy for them. Daniel Day-Lewis did just that as when bare-chested he looks gaunt and semi-skeletal in appearance. Even though he's under his wife, Miller's direction, we know he can always muster in a great performance without being a slacker. Camilla Belle who is not a household name in Hollywood displays great acting which could feel like a breakthrough performance for her. Catherine Keener is great as always showing just how versatile she is as a performer.
Sure the contrivances are quite frequent in "The Ballad of Jack and Rose", but it all gets concealed due to likable characters that we don't ever observe them. Sure the pace is slower than molasses, but it was done on purpose by Miller, can make fans feel very unsettled by it. I agree, it is losing a turtle race in its pacing, but this gives the characters ample time to develop and to make the audience become invested in them.