SummaryIn the cold, winter light of a rural Mississippi Delta township, a man’s suicide radically transforms three characters’ 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 violen... Read More
Directed By:Lance Hammer
Written By:Lance Hammer
Ballast
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
84
User score
Generally Favorable
6.6
My Score
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Top Cast
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
84
96% Positive
23 Reviews
23 Reviews
4% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
100
This is the most significant feature about poor black life since Charles Burnett's 1977 "Killer of Sheep."
91
The final shot, of the three characters now united, may be the quietest affirmation of life I've ever seen in a movie, and one of the truest.
90
Shot with a sure hand and a cast of unknowns, the film doesn't so much tell a story as develop a tone and root around a place that, despite the intimate camerawork, remains shrouded in ambiguity.
83
Hammer filmed on location with local nonactors. Their lack of polish is evident -- Smith's inexpressiveness, though part of his character, is simply blank at times -- but their conviction can be just as powerful.
75
The overall thrust of the story -- that downtrodden folks in desperate circumstances have the capacity for goodness -- is one too rarely seen.
75
The result is an exhilarating narrative.
50
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.
User score
Generally Favorable
6.6
57% Positive
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
29% Mixed
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
14% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
Jan 3, 2012
10
With no hip hop soundtrack or flashy editing, Ballast is one of the truest portraits of family dynamics and seemingly real characters (which is hard to find in hollywood's portrayal of black people) This film is completely absorbing and natural and never falls into independent filmmaking stereotypes neither (sure, it's quiet but it is for a reason rather than using silence as a cover up for a lack of ideals) Also the cinematography is amazing, no shaky "indie" camera work. It proves that just because a film has no budget it does not have to look like it.
May 31, 2011
10
Director Lance Hammer tells a quiet and personal story, with amazing performances by non-actors. Director of photography, Lol Crawley, beautifully moves the story along with an even more personal handheld camera, documenting the empty Mississippi delta. Ballast is a tragically unheard of film which will always remain a gem to those who have viewed it.
