Metacritic Movie Ratings
Ballast Reviews

A sample of reviews from critics across the country.

• 100

  out of 100

  VarietyRobert Koehler

  A rock-ribbed 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.

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• 100

  out of 100

  Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert

  Ballast inexorably grows and deepens and gathers power and absorbs us. I always say I hardly ever cry at sad films, but I sometimes do, just a little, at films about good people.

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• 91

  out of 100

  Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman

  The final shot, of the three characters now united, may be the quietest affirmation of life I've ever seen in a movie, and one of the truest.

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• 90

  out of 100

  The New York TimesManohla Dargis

  Shot with a sure hand and a cast of unknowns, the film doesn't so much tell a story as develop a tone and root around a place that, despite the intimate camerawork, remains shrouded in ambiguity.

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• 90

  out of 100

  Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan

  A quintessentially American story that unmistakably echoes European art house cinema, combining the aesthetic purity of France's Robert Bresson with the social consciousness of Belgium's Dardenne brothers. It also is a powerful, character-driven melodrama that easily holds our attention from first to last.

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• 90

  out of 100

  The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt

  Working with non-pro actors, Hammer pulls authentic performances from the trio that are at times almost too painful to witness.

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• 80

  out of 100

  Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern

  This ostensibly simple film evokes whole lives in 96 minutes, and does so with sparse dialogue.

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See all Ballast movie reviews at Metacritic.com