Ballast

Ballast -- something that gives stability
"Ballast" is a small independent movie that was shot with primarily nonprofessional actors. Set in a rural area of the Mississippi Delta, the film focuses on Lawrence (Michael K. Smith, Sr.), a 30-something African-American man who lives on the same property as his twin brother. In the opening scene, a neighbor visits Lawrence, who is in a near catatonic state and won't respond; he's clearly experienced some kind of trauma. Slowly, we learn the back story and the relationships between the other characters who drift into the movie. This is a slice of life not often examined in movies - the realistic lives of poor African Americans in one of the most down-trodden areas of the country.

The movie is extremely low-key and slow paced. Likewise, the acting is often flat and doesn't always feel genuine (the extras show how the scenes were rehearsed and sometimes improved with the cast). However, "Ballast" overall does feel shockingly genuine, and even though it focuses on...

Adrift . . .
Like the debris of Hurricane Katrina scattered in the fields of this rural Mississippi setting, the lives of the three central characters of this wonderful film have been shattered by forces beyond their control. A mother tries to rescue her boy from the dangerous influence of some nasty drug dealers, while a man reels from the suicide of his twin brother, who is also her ex-husband. Under grim winter skies, the emotional distances between them - anger, fear, distrust, lost hopes - verge on despair and then careen away from disaster, as the three tentatively reach out to a resolution that involves each other.

It's an alarming and saddening portrayal of lives slipping through safety nets and, by a kind of miracle of circumstances and determination, saving themselves, one day at a time. Filmmaker Lance Hammer uses hand-held cameras and an elliptical style of editing to heighten the urgency in the characters' situations. Performances are restrained and remarkable, especially...

Cliched
I rented Ballast due to all of the awards and glowing reviews. But I found it so ridden with clichés, stereotypes and implausibilities that I couldn't even suspend disbelief, much less bring myself to rave about it.

The minimalist plot centers around three characters: Marlee (Tarra Riggs), the single mother with a history of drug addiction; her troubled son James (JimMyron Ross), who dabbles with drugs and guns; and the boy's catatonically depressed uncle Lawrence (Micheal J. Smith). Although the setting of a poverty-stricken African-American family in the Mississippi Delta is unusual in film, the central plot is entirely conventional: Lonely souls brought together by tragedy. But mostly, we get long, sad and bitter silences. Even an excellent performance by Riggs cannot overcome the lack of character development; none of these three are multi-dimensional enough to elicit audience connection.

What little action does occur is implausible. One moment, a gang...

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