Film Description
| BALLAST | ||
| Director: | Lance Hammer |  |
| Country: | USA | |
| Year: | 2008 | |
| Language: | English | |
| Runtime: | 96 minutes | |
| Rating: | NR | |
| Principal Cast: | Micheal J. Smith, Sr., JimMyron Ross, Tarra Riggs, Johnny McPhail, Ventress Bonner. | |
| Trailer: | http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNMoKR9FeqI | |
| SCREENING TIMES | |||
| Saturday, November 8 | 1:15 PM | Art Gallery of Windsor | |
Winner: Director Award Sundance Film Festival 2008
Cinematography Award Sundance Film Festival 2008
A sense of committed, personal cinema and a core belief in people being able to pull themselves out of misery supports "Ballast," an extraordinary debut by editor-writer-director Lance Hammer. Following a Mississippi Delta family shattered by suicide and violence, Ballast runs a course from wrenching death to possible uplift that seems real every second. Hammer's achievement is to create a thoroughly engrossing experience that attends to everyday life's small (and in a few cases, significant) moments, and is certain to command high respect as a film that operates by its principles and engages audiences' best human responses.
The opening passage isn't small but stark, as Lawrence (Micheal J. Smith, Sr.) is found in mute shock in his living room by neighbor John (Johnny McPhail). Lawrence's twin brother, Darius, has fatally OD'd in his bed, and Lawrence's response is to shoot himself. Badly wounded, he recovers over weeks in the hospital.
The portly Lawrence's connection with single parent mom Marlee (Tarra Riggs) and her 12-year-old boy James (JimMyron Ross) is gradually revealed, as James drives his scooter over to Lawrence's place and demands money from him at gunpoint--money which belonged to his father, the late Darius. James, who seems to love Marlee as much as any 12-year-old lad can express it, is also getting into trouble with some teen dope dealers for whom he does some drops and to whom he also owes money.
Both Lawrence and Marlee are also on personal precipices; he's so shell-shocked by Darius' death that he can barely talk and hasn't re-opened his small food market, while Marlee is fired from her cleaning job. James' release comes from his wanderings in the nearby fields, and his connection with nature and animals; his total lack of friends set him apart as a unique lad.
The impact of the Dardennes brothers' films on world cinema is hardly news, but few prior Yank filmmakers have embraced the Belgian siblings' love of immersion in the lives of poor folks, finding them in the immediate moment during moral crises.
By Robert Koehler
