The Ballad of Jack and Rose
IFC Films | Release Date: March 25, 2005 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
59
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 35 Critic Reviews
Positive:
19
Mixed:
15
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
Miller's theme is innocence, the loss of it, and the reclamation of equanimity in the face of that loss, and the music she makes is haunting. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
Powered by an exceptional performance by Daniel Day-Lewis, this artfully disturbing film is a compelling, imaginative look at the potent emotional bond that forms not between romantic lovers but between fathers and daughters. Read full review
88
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
A stinging elegy for lost American dreams. Read full review
83
Portland OregonianM. E. Russell
Daniel Day-Lewis may be one of our great actors, but he trips over a few Method-acting speed bumps in wife Rebecca Miller's third writer-director effort. Read full review
80
NewsweekDavid Ansen
Day-Lewis, who imbues Jack with a ravaged, Keith Richards charisma, is once again extraordinary. Read full review
80
TimeRichard Corliss
The film doesn't scale Shakespearean heights, but it does give its star a nicely gnarled ogre to play. Read full review
80
Dallas ObserverBill Gallo
A fascinating, highly literate film. Read full review
80
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
Doesn't succeed in everything it sets out to do, which is a lot. But as a statement about the death rattle of 60s counterculture it's both thoughtful and affecting, and Daniel Day-Lewis is mesmerizing. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Smart and engrossing, if too heavy on the symbolism at times. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Camilla Belle is an impressive newcomer - this could be her breakthrough appearance. Read full review
75
Seattle Post-IntelligencerPaula Nechak
A difficult movie. Its obvious, heavy symbolism, glaring soundtrack and top-heavy themes threaten to make it implode, but it's saved by its performances. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
An absorbing experience. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
A gut-punch of a movie, a potent, mesmerizing drama. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Stephen Cole
We leave this movie hoping to see Miller and Lewis together again soon. Read full review
70
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
One of those passionately atmospheric movies, like Jane Campion's "The Piano," that sounds idiotic on paper, but whose ambiance, charged with eros, rage, regret and optimism, is strangely moving. Read full review
63
PremierePeter Debruge
One of those novelistic independent films more concerned with atmosphere and character than the particularities of narrative, where contemplating the backstory is more satisfying than anything we see. Read full review
63
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
Phenomenal acting, plus intelligent direction and themes, put The Ballad of Jack and Rose above other indie films about loss of innocence. At the same time, there is something garish about watching a father and daughter struggle with the snake of incest in their ill-advised Garden of Eden. Read full review
63
New York PostKyle Smith
If one enjoyed manufacturing symbols as much as Miller, one might speculate that Rose is Rebecca Miller, aching to be her own artist, and Jack is Arthur. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
But the film disappoints, partly because it inspires such large expectations. Read full review
60
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
Has density enough for several films. What's missing is spontaneity, and variety. And, throughout most of the narrative, velocity.
50
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
Shaky story and predictable developments make this an off-key ballad. Read full review
50
VarietyTodd McCarthy
Well-wrought individual scenes and sharply focused acting provide Rebecca Miller's third feature with a measure of gravity, but too much abrupt, even melodramatic behavior and undigested psychological matter leave nagging dissatisfactions. Read full review
50
Village VoiceJessica Winter
Day-Lewis is as rooted as an oak in his character and milieu, yet easefully disengaged from the film's pensive histrionics. Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
By the time it reaches its fiery finale, the film feels less mythic than self-consciously portentous. Read full review
50
Washington PostDesson Thomson
An engaging battle between terrific acting and a flawed script. Read full review
50
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
I feel prodigious emotion underneath the pretty, preserved features of The Ballad of Jack and Rose, channeled into a vehicle that's a half-successful imitation of "You Can Count on Me" or "In the Bedroom." Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
Strong performances and Miller's equivocal stance toward her characters save the movie from its symbolic overload and melodramatic crash course, but in the end there may be less here than meets the eye. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
If only Miller's writing had some human zest. Nearly everybody here is crunchy, salt-of-the-earth organic, and off in a dreamland. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
A self-conscious attempt at the brass ring. Read full review
50
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
Often seems less like a fully realized film than an illustrated story, its paragraphs reduced to neatly contrived set pieces. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
Miller has crafted some intriguing, complex characters and stranded them in a muddled story that doesn't know quite what to do with them. Read full review
50
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
"Velocity" told multiple stories, each lasting half an hour, but "Ballad" wears out one tale before its end. Read full review
40
Film ThreatJeremy Mathews
Might not have been a bad film if its characters never said anything and some obnoxious visual metaphors were removed. Read full review
40
The New York TimesManohla Dargis
Ms. Miller has attempted to elevate a small Oedipal story about two damaged souls into a grandiloquent epic, Shakespeare by way of Bob Dylan. She misses by a significantly wide mark, largely because she loves her monster too much and his victim too little. Read full review
30
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
Some good Bob Dylan songs are called in to underline the big moments, but end up eclipsing them instead. There's more drama and insight in a snippet of "One More Cup Of Coffee" than the entirety of Jack & Rose. Read full review
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