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himself in the chest, which he survives. In the hospital, it is revealed that Darius committed suicide. Depressed and unable to return to the store he owns, Lawrence spends his days at the property he shared with his brother. Meanwhile, James, Darius' estranged pubescent son, steals
Lawrence's gun and holds him at gunpoint for money to buy crack. After a failing to repay debts to his drug dealer, James and his mother, Marlee, are targeted in a drive-by assault. Unable to return home, Marlee confronts Lawrence about Darius leaving her and James many years prior and moves into Darius' vacant apartment. After she is fired from her job as a cleaner, James convinces Lawrence to buy them food, which he does. Bound by these numerous tragedies, the trio form a de facto family, determined to move forward, starting with Marlee convincing Lawrence to let her run the store. The pair loosely decides to raise James together, beginning with a shared homeschooling schedule to keep James away from the negative influences that led him to drugs in the first place. The film ends when Lawrence discovers that ammunition is missing. He confronts James, fearing he has found himself another gun, only to find that James had thrown the bullets into a stream, to prevent Lawrence from attempting to harm himself again.
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The film opens with a local man driving to the home of
Lawrence and Darius, twin brothers who operate a local store. Upon entering the home, the man discovers Darius dead in his bedroom with Lawrence sitting on the couch unable to speak. Lawrence then walks to a neighboring property and shoots
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reports a "fresh" 93% approval rating based on 80 reviews. The site’s critics consensus reads, "A searing debut by director Lance Hammer, this subtle and contemplative
Mississippi set drama lingers long after its conclusion."
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gave the film four stars out of four, saying the film "inexorably grows and deepens and gathers power and absorbs us." He later named it as one of the 20 best films of 2008.
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529:"AWARDS WATCH '08 | "River," "Rachel," "Ballast" Lead Spirit Award Nominations"
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The film appeared on several critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2008.
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received critical acclaim. The review aggregator website
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501:Ebert, Roger (December 5, 2008).
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219:Michael J. Smith Sr. as Lawrence
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918:2000s English-language films
883:African-American drama films
756:Beasts of the Southern Wild
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619:Interview with Lance Hammer
516:– via RogerEbert.com.
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417:"Film trio feel the Spirit"
191:2008 Sundance Film Festival
185:is a 2008 film directed by
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258:It was nominated for six
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810:Sorry to Bother You
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284:Best Cinematography
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564:on January 2, 2009
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18:2008 American film
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154:Running time
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68:Mark Johnson
59:Lance Hammer
51:Lance Hammer
42:Lance Hammer
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568:January 11,
512:October 23,
486:October 23,
433:December 2,
328:(tied with
247:Roger Ebert
92:Lol Crawley
81:Tarra Riggs
61:Nina Parikh
56:Produced by
38:Directed by
873:2008 films
867:Categories
786:Ex Machina
668:Sexy Beast
558:Metacritic
460:January 4,
339:References
158:96 minutes
141:2008-10-01
126:2008-01-19
48:Written by
818:Booksmart
794:The Witch
538:April 30,
533:IndieWire
264:Best Film
233:Reception
98:Edited by
850:Rye Lane
842:Aftersun
609:AllMovie
171:Language
132:Sundance
74:Starring
802:Get Out
724:Ballast
604:Ballast
593:Ballast
422:Variety
395:May 25,
249:of the
238:Ballast
182:Ballast
174:English
163:Country
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24:Ballast
853:(2023)
845:(2022)
837:(2021)
829:(2020)
821:(2019)
813:(2018)
805:(2017)
797:(2016)
789:(2015)
781:(2014)
773:(2013)
765:(2012)
751:(2011)
743:(2010)
735:(2009)
732:Hunger
727:(2008)
719:(2007)
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703:(2005)
700:Capote
695:(2004)
687:(2003)
679:(2002)
671:(2001)
318:4th -
306:3rd -
282:, and
130: (
363:(PDF)
356:(PDF)
759:and
598:IMDb
570:2009
540:2023
514:2013
488:2013
462:2021
435:2008
397:2008
371:2007
214:Cast
205:Plot
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
