Steve Rhodes
March 23rd 05, 10:14 PM
THE BALLAD OF JACK AND ROSE
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2005 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): **
THE BALLAD OF JACK AND ROSE, an art house pretender, is nothing more than
another film on the level of a TV disease movie of the week. Daniel
Day-Lewis stars as Jack, a dying member of an almost dead commune he helped
found back in 1967. Jack, sometimes aided by his teenage daughter Rose
(Camilla Belle), is an ecoterrorist with good intentions. An outstanding
steward of the environment -- we know this because he recycles and has a
rotary phone -- Jack wants to stop progress, in the form of new housing,
from coming to the island on which he lives.
Beau Bridges plays Marty Rance, the island's new developer, who isn't even
angry when Jack destroys one of his houses. Marty can always rebuild it,
which he explains calmly and kindly to Jack. The script manages to make
this developer, with his ridiculously altruistic heart, be ipso facto evil
because he represents suburban sprawl.
THE BALLAD OF JACK AND ROSE's writer and director, Rebecca Miller, who did
such a fine job in PERSONAL VELOCITY: THREE PORTRAITS, isn't able to develop
any convincing or compelling characters in this quirky drama. From the
beginning, it's clear that the movie will be one long march to death, so why
does Miller have to take so long before she finally puts Jack and us out of
our collective misery?
THE BALLAD OF JACK AND ROSE runs 1:51. It is rated R for "language, sexual
content and some drug material" and would be acceptable for teenagers.
The film opens in limited release in the United States on Friday, March 25,
2005.
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A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2005 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): **
THE BALLAD OF JACK AND ROSE, an art house pretender, is nothing more than
another film on the level of a TV disease movie of the week. Daniel
Day-Lewis stars as Jack, a dying member of an almost dead commune he helped
found back in 1967. Jack, sometimes aided by his teenage daughter Rose
(Camilla Belle), is an ecoterrorist with good intentions. An outstanding
steward of the environment -- we know this because he recycles and has a
rotary phone -- Jack wants to stop progress, in the form of new housing,
from coming to the island on which he lives.
Beau Bridges plays Marty Rance, the island's new developer, who isn't even
angry when Jack destroys one of his houses. Marty can always rebuild it,
which he explains calmly and kindly to Jack. The script manages to make
this developer, with his ridiculously altruistic heart, be ipso facto evil
because he represents suburban sprawl.
THE BALLAD OF JACK AND ROSE's writer and director, Rebecca Miller, who did
such a fine job in PERSONAL VELOCITY: THREE PORTRAITS, isn't able to develop
any convincing or compelling characters in this quirky drama. From the
beginning, it's clear that the movie will be one long march to death, so why
does Miller have to take so long before she finally puts Jack and us out of
our collective misery?
THE BALLAD OF JACK AND ROSE runs 1:51. It is rated R for "language, sexual
content and some drug material" and would be acceptable for teenagers.
The film opens in limited release in the United States on Friday, March 25,
2005.
Web: http://www.InternetReviews.com
Email:
************************************************** *********************
Want free reviews and weekly movie and video recommendations via Email?
Just send me a letter with the word "subscribe" in the subject line.