The Ballad of Jack and Rose

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The Ballad of Jack and Rose

R

2005

1h 51m

Drama

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Popcornmeter

46%

Tomatometer

112 Reviews

61%

Popcornmeter

5,000+ Ratings

Jack Slavin (Daniel Day-Lewis) is an environmentalist with a heart condition who lives with his daughter, Rose (Camilla Belle), on an isolated island. While Jack fights against developers who wish to build in the area, he also craves more contact with other people. When he invites his girlfriend, Kathleen (Catherine Keener), and her sons, Rodney (Ryan McDonald) and Thaddius (Paul Dano), to move in, Rose is upset. The complicated family dynamics make things difficult for everyone in the house.

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Critics Consensus

Heavy on the symbolism and overly contrived.

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Peter Aspden

Financial Times

10/07/2018

2/5

So we have the Oscar-winning poet laureate's son wasting his and our time in a flower-power-hangover movie that might have been made 25 years ago, though better, by Hal Ashby.

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Jonathan Rosenbaum

Chicago Reader

02/08/2010

Doesn't succeed in everything it sets out to do, but as a statement about the death rattle of 60s counterculture it's thoughtful and affecting.

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David Ansen

Newsweek

11/01/2007

Belle uses her blank, doll-like beauty to unnerving effect: she has the vulnerability--and the amorality--of an unbroken colt. Keener, who usually plays brittle, angry urban women, has never been so touching.

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Felix Vasquez Jr.

Cinema Crazed

04/29/2009

A sad tale of isolation and love.

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Brandon Fibbs

BrandonFibbs.com

02/28/2008

5/10

The Ballad of Jack and Rose, like the community it elucidates, is not perfect. Like the people who try so desperately to make the most of the world in which they live, it is full of flaws, inconsistencies, and shortcomings.

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Prairie Miller

NY Rock

03/26/2007

A disjointed collection of characters whose dysfunctional behavior modes only reinforce the aimlessness of the narrative.

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Stephen C

@bob25009 07/13/2025

Success in 1 hour and 51 minutes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Rated R for Some Drug Material, Sexual Content and Language!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The USA grossed $712,300.00!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Ken P

@RT34517986 03/09/2025

Obsessed idiots try to outdo each other in being dysfunctional. Beau Bridges & the fat boy son are the only characters who even approach reality. Terrible movie centering on latent incest.

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Amanda L

@RT00328743 06/13/2024

I watched this movie to see if I’d have any compassion for the father character, to see if the writer, Rebecca Miller, could summon a level of charity in me despite my life-long disdain of adults who fall into objectifying their own children. Well, she did. For all the flaws in production (yes, the soundtrack is intrusive), the actors really did have a deep and ultimately edifying story to work with. Edifying how? I won’t give that away. And, of course, if for no other reason, watch the movie to see Daniel Day-Lewis play a man battling selfishness for the sake of love.

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01/18/2018

Ultimately it doesn't work, but there are a few small parts in here that show some potential of what could've been. Feels really cheap, which doesn't help it at all.

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07/18/2016

Wow. Just wow. Had no idea DDL was so sexy. And to live there.....to live that life. Wow. Just wow.

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05/10/2016

Not at all interesting.

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Rebecca Miller

Director

Daniel Day-Lewis

Jack

Catherine Keener

Kathleen

Camilla Belle

Rose

Beau Bridges

Marty Rance

Jason Lee

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Synopsis

Jack Slavin (Daniel Day-Lewis) is an environmentalist with a heart condition who lives with his daughter, Rose (Camilla Belle), on an isolated island. While Jack fights against developers who wish to build in the area, he also craves more contact with other people. When he invites his girlfriend, Kathleen (Catherine Keener), and her sons, Rodney (Ryan McDonald) and Thaddius (Paul Dano), to move in, Rose is upset. The complicated family dynamics make things difficult for everyone in the house.

Director: Rebecca Miller
Producer: Lemore Syvan
Screenwriter: Rebecca Miller
Distributor: IFC Films
Production Co: IFC Productions
Rating: R (Some Drug Material|Sexual Content|Language)
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 25, 2005, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 27, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $712.3K
Runtime: 1h 51m
Sound Mix: Stereo

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