The Ballad of Jack and Rose (2005)

Haven't see this film for a while. From the first time watching it the only scene i remembered was the kid falling out of the tree house. Well, after watching it a second time,, I'm still not sure what to make of it. For starts, the self righteous main character is horribly flawed. He condemns the builder for being a business man, and yet he himself is living off an inheritance and contributes nothing to society. He has done his daughter a terrible disservice by keep her alone on an island with no friends, socialization, no real schooling, and no idea what the real world is about. The daughter is some kind of mental case. First she brings the shotgun into her fathers bedroom, then tries to kill the girlfriend with a snake. The rest of the younger characters are just unappealing.

About six months ago, Roger Ebert {RIP} re-reviewed this movie on twitter. In his initial review from 2005, he gave it 3 stars. After re-watching it, however, he stated that he had originally rated it too low. Frankly, I can see why he changed his mind. Ms. Miller's film is better upon a second viewing for one important reason--(brief spoiler ahead)--we now know (due to a later scene in the film) that Jack is not morally or emotionally capable of participating in a physical indiscretion with his daughter. The suspense about "will-they or won't they?" is gone and now we can watch the film solely for the purposes of analyzing the characters and determining how their relationship nearly became an incredibly destructive one. And this is where the truly insightful aspects of the film lie. We can care about Jack (despite his bad parenting) because we now know with certainly, he in not a monster--just a flawed and self-deluded man.Jack and Rose's (at-first unintentional) isolation results in a complex relationship teetering between a normal father/daughter one and an emotionally incestuous one in which almost accidentally, Rose has taken on the role of her mother (a woman who abandoned the communal life, their ecological cause and her family). Jack is a control freak but a mostly gentle one who is partly in denial about what his relationship with his 16 year old is evolving into. But at times, he certainly senses there is possible danger ahead and this, along with his impending death from heart disease, forces him to take some drastic actions..convincing the family of his part-time girlfriend to move in with them so as to create some boundaries between his daughter and himself.Jack is one complicated man. He's loving but is unfairly uncompromising and judgmental--that is until an epiphany moment in a land-developer's house that is both heartbreaking and oddly admirable. He doesn't hate people but, throughout most of the film, he stays isolated from them out of disappointment and heartbreak. He's charming and even funny but he's also takes himself too seriously at times and can be detached. Rose is loyal and responsible but also impulsive and inarticulate (expressing herself through actions.) She is innocent (even though she tries to engage in sexual acts with near strangers) but as one character deftly puts it, "Innocent people are dangerous people"--presumably because they are unsocialized and unaware of the impact they have on others. Any unnatural feelings she may have for her father have more to do with confusion and wanting to keep him close before he dies than anything else. The performances of this film are strong especially from Day-Lewis and Catherine Keener. DDL, with his perfect Scottish accent, gaunt frame, subtle eccentricity, brooding evasiveness, controlled anger, warmth, and lyrical charm makes Jack into a sympathetic character despite Jack's massive flaws as a man and a parent. And the films confirms by the end, that despite Jack's bad parenting choices, his intentions are honorable. Keener gives a heartbreaking and at times tough performance as a imperfect woman of limited financial means who doesn't feel at home unless she is caring for a man and who obviously prefers one of her sons over the other. Camilla Belle is strong as well. Although her character does express herself mostly through actions, she has some effectively tearful moments.Miller has created some complicated characters and strong dialog (particularly in the conversations between Jack and Kathleen and between Jack and Marty--the land developer).But, her use of symbolism is a bit heavy-handed at times and I wish she had avoided the almost sensationalistic building of suspense around the nature of Jack and Rose's relationship. Had the model home scene between Jack and Rose (and Jack's reaction to how things went down in that house) been at the beginning of the film and the rest of the film had built up to that moment, then I think Miller would have been acknowledging the white elephant in the room (in fact killing it by revealing Jack's restraint) and this would have shifted the audience's focus from wondering about whether Jack and Rose were going to do something horrid to trying to understand how these people nearly stepped over the line. The second time, one sees this film, it's not 'icky' anymore and therefore its insightful and moving nuances are more obvious.

Daniel Day Lewis is an incredible actor, he is wonderful to watch but...while I was watching this movie I was thinking to myself "why in the world did D.D.L. make this piece of crap movie?" I feel it was an amazing talent wasted. The script didn't have enough meat in it for D.D.L.'s powerful acting ability. It had the 'potential' to be a good movie, but the directing, the timing, the flow, the storytelling ability, it just didn't work. And Beau Bridges, that whole story line was just weird and didn't make much sense. Sorry I know a lot you loved it, but it was boring, and it was a stinker....don't waste your time watching this.

I should have known better. Any movie with Catherine Keener is going to be a stinker and this one was. The story did not make a lot of sense to begin with and it is presented in rather piece meal fashion so that it jerks a long without smooth transitions. The movie really falls apart at the end.Aside from Keener's less than mediocre performance, it was often difficult to understand what Daniel Day-Lewis, the father is saying, because of his heavy Scottish accent. Sub-titles would have been appropriate. It is a very dreary story with little suspense or excitement and a waste of time.