Ballast (Lance Hammer, 2008) — Nearly devastating Sundance-winning Mississippi drama
 

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<b><a href="http://www.apple.com/trailers/independent/ballast/">HD Trailer</a></b> | <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1153690/">IMDB</a> | NYC: Oct 1, 2008 | Limited: Oct 17, 2008

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I saw this recently and it is one of the best films I've seen this year. I'll put up a more detailed review shortly.

Yeah, it's on my list for the Chicago International Film Festival.

What does the "nearly devastating" in the thread title refer to?

Well, it's a great film. It's nearly emotionally devastating and it's a small handful of films I've ever seen where I feel any empathy towards the characters.

I'm not spoiling the plot below, but someone might prefer going into this without knowing anything. What's below doesn't spoil anything beyond what you might read in any of the reviews of the film:



The whole movie is imbued with this real, tactile hopelessness, or better yet, not to sound clichéd, humanity. One of my favorite dramas is You Can Count On Me, and, like in Lonergan's film, this one is not a continual downward spiral but much more, well, realistic. I can't explain it any other way. Ballast is also a really poignant portrayal of family, although in a really, really loose sense.

It is devastating because the film could've veered towards the extreme (for example, Requiem for a Dream) but doesn't. And it doesn't wrap up anything tidily or even offer a happy ending.

I hope this explains it. I'm not very good at writing my thoughts on film down.

<a href="http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/34990/ballast/">Four stars</a> in the DVD Talk review.

The brief capsule I read about it referenced Charles Burnett (Killer of Sheep), and that was enough to pique my interest.

Initial thoughts: a fantastic work on all accounts.

To make a comparison in lieu of a full review: characters interact with their space and each other and the camera in a way I found very reminiscent of the Dardennes Brothers. And just as emotionally potent.

Ballast is <a href="http://www.ballastfilm.com/screenings">expanding to limited markets</a>. Go see this if its playing in your town.

had never heard of the film til it wound up on The Bus' and sundog's rank 'em film list. Will definately check it out. It opens near the end of month at the downtown Landmark here in DC.