Hammerman Ikon

Hammerman Ikon Film Guide

The Ballad of Jack and Rose
2005
***
Director: Rebecca Miller
Cast: Camilla Belle, Daniel Day-Lewis, Catherine Keener, Ryan McDonald, Paul Dano, Jason Lee, Jena Malone, Beau Bridges

An earnest drama about a father and daughter who live on a small island where they've developed an intimately close relationship. He's an idealistic Scottish environmentalist with a weak heart. She's a naive 16-year-old who knows nothing about the world out there. Things come to a head when Jack's girlfriend and her two teenage boys move in. The premise is intriguing and the characters are fresh, but the events play out pretty much as expected. It's an uneven story where powerful, poignant moments are followed by flat, heavy-handed scenes, and in the end we're left with several totally irrelevant questions. Why is the story set in the 1980s? Why is it important that the protagonist is Scottish? Why doesn't Rose share his father's accent if she hasn't been exposed to outside influences? Nevertheless, Rebecca Miller's husband Daniel Day-Lewis adds another intense performance to his CV.