Year: 2008
Shot on location in the dirt-poor Mississippi Delta, "Ballast" is the debut feature from director Lance Hammer. And what a feature it is--a mesmerizing look at the lives of three people joined together by their conflicted feelings for a dead man--and for one another.
As the film opens, we see a concerned neighbor (I can do a good impression of said neighbor actually) going to check on the Batiste brothers. Folks are getting worried because the Batiste family grocery has been closed for a few days, no one is answering the phone and no one knows what's going on. It's clear that the Batiste family has a good reputation in the area and people are concerned. We soon learn that one brother, Darius, is laying dead in his bedroom, the victim of an intentional overdose. Lawrence, a 270-pound bear of a man, says nothing to his visitors. He doesn't speak, only stares straight ahead, struggling to comprehend his loss. Suddenly, Lawrence (Michael J. Smith Sr.) bolts from his spot on the couch. We hear a gun shot--Lawrence has tried to kill himself. But it's only a half-hearted effort (he's shot himself in the chest) and he ultimately survives and tries to pick up the pieces of his life.
Meanwhile, single mother Marlee (Tarra Riggs) has her hands full. She's struggling to make ends meet, toiling at thankless menial labor (she works for a cleaning service). Her son would like $20 for basketball sign-ups and even this relative small amount is the source for some genuine worry. The son, James, (JimMyron Ross) meanwhile is flirting hard with trouble. He's not in school and is into drugs. He's also managed to run afoul of the local thugs who claim they are owed money from past transactions. James steals a gun from Lawrence and uses it to rob Lawrence with. He bursts into Lawrence's house and demands cash, waving the gun threateningly and insulting Lawrence. Lawrence, despite his huge size difference and James' uncertainty, offers no resistance--he does what he's order and gives up the cash.
The details of the story unfold real slowly, unrushed but gradually. The director lets us in on details when he's ready. We learn that Lawrence and James have a connection--Darius was Lawrence's twin brother and James' absentee father. We also, ever so gently, learn details about Marlee and Lawrence's strained relationship. They each loved Darius in different ways and that love often put them on opposite sides of the fence, ferociously so at times.
When the pressures mount on James to come up with even more, and faster cash, the move takes a violent, tragic turn. When he foolishly ends up taking a shot a the leader of the gang, all hell breaks loose and he and Marlee are forced to flee their home. The end up taking refuge on the Batiste property (Darius' home with Lawrence residing nearby). This is where the human emotions really start to cook and where the film really hits its stride. Marlee and Lawrence have to set aside their simmering hatred and work together. There's legal matters to deal with--what to do with the property and the story. Sell it and divide the money? Keep it? It's hard enough to sort out this things, and the situation is complicated by the feelings they share for Darius. There's a lot of water under the bridge between these two and the scars are deep.
It took me a little bit to catch on to the ending, which I'm sure a lot of you won't have trouble figuring out. It first, I thought it a little unsatisfying but after digest this movie for a day or so, I have to say it was really awesome, emotional and powerful.
These actors aren't pros--Hammer apparently recruited real people who lived in the area. They are, uniformly, excellent. They are real, they FEEL real, probably because they are real. I think we all have the potential to be a good actor inside of us. We act all the time, at work or school or in our dealings with people. Some are better than others but that ability is in all of us, I believe. By drawing out some amazing performances from these "amateurs," Hammer has created a mini-masterpiece.
The scenery in this movie is amazing. It was shot in the winter, and everything is in shades of cold, gray. The opening shot of James staring out over a field of squawking birds sets the tone for what follows--it's almost dreamlike a lot of the time. And the shades of gray match with the gray areas the characters work in. As much as it would make it easier for us, life (and relationships in particular) aren't in black and white. Sometimes you have to give to get. Sometimes things don't work out. And what's right for you may not be always what's right for me. These are the parameters in which these characters are functioning and the movie depicts their struggles with heart and with gritty beauty.
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