Complete credited cast: | |||
Camilla Belle | ... | Rose Slavin | |
Daniel Day-Lewis | ... | Jack Slavin | |
Catherine Keener | ... | Kathleen | |
Ryan McDonald | ... | Rodney | |
Paul Dano | ... | Thaddius | |
Jason Lee | ... | Gray | |
Jena Malone | ... | Red Berry | |
Beau Bridges | ... | Marty Rance | |
Susanna Thompson | ... | Miriam Rance |
1986. Jack Slavin, an engineer by trade, and his mid-teen daughter Rose Slavin live in virtual isolation on what was once a commune that Jack and a group of others built in 1968 on sparsely populated Marsh Island off the U.S. east coast. Rose's mother abandoned them when Rose was five. Jack has passed to Rose a sense of ecological preservation, placing them at odds with Marty Rance, who is building a housing complex on the island on a wetlands. They are able to live this life on the commune property in their ecological bliss due to a sizable inheritance, Jack who will occasionally take out his checkbook in order to solve whatever problem he may be facing. Jack also took Rose out of school when she was eleven as he didn't believe in what the traditional school system was teaching. Their quiet life together is threatened by the fact that Jack has a heart condition which will probably kill him sooner than later. Wanting to ensure that Rose is taken care of after his passing, Jack makes ... Written by Huggo
This is a powerful and affecting film. I have a few quibbles about Ms. Miller's use of the camera and her editing, especially in the beginning as there were too many jerky cuts/unnecessary camera movements which were quite distracting. Thankfully they diminished as the film progressed.
Camilla Belle's as Rose performance was surprisingly nuanced and rich for such a young actress, she didn't have one false note and was totally believable as this "feral," innocent, yet disturbed teen. All the supporting actors were excellent, the characterizations and dialogue engaging and true and the emotional unraveling harrowing.
Day-Lewis' performance as Jack Slavin was outstanding. It hits you with such power that it left me flattened. While the credits ran I had to close my gaping jaw, peel myself off the movie chair and stumble up the aisle trying to absorb it all. Moment by moment he communicated paragraphs of information about Jack's multi-layered internal complexities with complete mastery and subtlety. The man's our finest film actor, period.
This movie has an original voice, it doesn't pander and despite some visual clichés, it follows its own unique internal logic. Definitely worth seeing, especially for the performances of Day-Lewis and Camilla Belle.