Review of The Ballad of Jack and Rose (2005) by Alysia V — 20 May 2009

Being such a huge fan of Daniel Day-Lewis (I think, as an actor, he is genius) I was willing to give this movie another try. (I had previously watched it around when it first came out & remembered not liking it very much & pretty much just being creeped out by it) and, well, watching this a second time around my opinion of it did not drastically change.

My love for Daniel Day-Lewis remains & I thought he was wonderful in this. I loved his character, though slightly off-beat & way too lenient on his daughter, there was just something about his spirit that I loved.

However, the relationship between he & his daughter was just a little too strange for me. I didn't get good vibes from it & was constantly nervous of what was going to happen between them.

They were a little too close for comfort, in my opinion. A very odd relationship, that is for sure. And the entire character of "Rose" aggravated me to no end. She definitely had some serious issues, though "Jack" seemed very stubborn to realizing that.

"Rose" was such a spoiled, bratty girl who basically threw a fit (in her own odd sort of way) whenever things didn't go her way. It was incredibly annoying and I couldn't stand her for it.

Had the relationship between her and her father been different and had her entire character, as a whole, been scripted differently I would've enjoyed this film a lot more. I like the concept of these sort of free-spirited, hippy folk living on this piece of land trying to create a commune and live self-sufficiently and wish the plotline would've just stuck more to that & centered around that, as a narrative.

I think that would've been really interesting and delightful to watch Daniel Day-Lewis in. However, that's not really what this film is about at all, in which result, I was disappointed & sort of creeped out.

I still tip my hat to Daniel Day-Lewis, though.