Ballast

Ballast

Available Now

On DVD

Shop for Ballast

Critic Reviews

Chicago Sun-Times | Roger EbertAdd Critic to Favorites

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.Read the full review

Boston Globe | Wesley MorrisAdd Critic to Favorites

This is the most significant feature about poor black life since Charles Burnett's 1977 "Killer of Sheep."Read the full review

Variety | Robert KoehlerAdd Critic to Favorites

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.Read the full review

All review information above is provided by Metacritic® and Metacritic.com®

All Critics Reviews Ballast

Watch Free Movies Online

SlashControl

SlashControl

Couch potatoes, rejoice! Choose from a library of 1000s of free movies and watch them online, anytime -- all at the brand-new SlashControl.

Watch Free Movies and TV Shows Online

Plus, check out:

experiencing normal news volume

Headlines

  • cinemadaily | Now On DVD

    11/11/09 One of the most critically acclaimed films of 2008, Lance Hammer's "Ballast" comes to DVD this week, courtesy of Kino. "Superficially, Ballast is a distinctly American work, but Hammer infuses it with a European sensibility that separates it from the rest of the pack," writes Michael Tully at Hammer to Nail in his survey of the week's DVD releases.  |  indieWIRE
  • Mississippi Blues and Embarcadero Clues

    11/10/09 There's little point in attempting to figure why Lance Hammer's "Ballast," the best American film of 2008, was whisked in and out of so few theaters so quickly, in contrast even to minimalist imports and special-interest video docs in the same span, and despite universal critical hosannas.  |  Independent Film Channel (IFC)
  • Mississippi Damned

    06/23/09 For the black men, women and children in "Mississippi Damned," Tina Mabry's autobiographical saga of intertwined destinies, that southern state epitomizes a domestic hell of borderline poverty and endemic abuse.  |  Variety
  • The Unseen Destruction of Nations

    05/05/09 Kelly Reichardt's "Wendy & Lucy" may be -- in competition only with Lance Hammer's "Ballast" -- the best film of 2008, and both movies have been so underseen by the public that they could be said to have not been released at all.  |  Independent Film Channel (IFC)
  • Film Independent Announces Directors Close-Up

    01/23/09 Film Independent, announced the lineup for the ninth annual Directors Close-Up: Conversations on the Art of Filmmaking, formerly known as the Director Series.  |  indieWIRE
  • Not Picked Up in Park City? Filmmakers Look Forward to DIY Release Options

    01/12/09 Joe the Filmmaker just found out he's going to Sundance with his debut film.  |  indieWIRE