The Ballad of Jack and Rose

Oscar(r) winner* Daniel Day-Lewis (Gangs of New York) is "a joy to watch" (Newsday) as a defiant idealist in this "moving, often hilariouscoming-of-age story" (Vogue) from writer-director Rebecca Miller (Personal Velocity). Catherine Keener (Being John Malkovich), Camilla Belle (Practical Magic), Beau Bridges (The Fabulous Baker Boys), Jason Lee (Almost Famous) and Jena Malone (Saved!) co-star. Jack (Day-Lewis) and his 16-year-old daughter Rose (Belle) live in relative isolation on a beautiful island off the East Coast. When he invites his mainland girlfriend (Keener) and her two teenage sons to come live with them, it is Rose's first exposure to society - and sexuality. As worlds collide, the consequences will threaten not only Jack and Rose's way of life but also their unusually close bond. *1989: Actor, My Left Foot.

Soured radical Jack (Daniel Day-Lewis) and his adoring daughter Rose (Camilla Belle) have formed an unsettling degree of happy intimacy in an abandoned commune. But Jack's heart condition leaves him fearful of what will happen to Rose when he dies; to create a family, he invites home his secret girlfriend Kathleen (Catherine Keener, Lovely and Amazing) and her two sons, one overweight and neurotic (Ryan McDonald), the other an aspiring thug (Paul Dano). The collision of cultures and personalities leads to disaster--but this movie is so honestly written and vividly acted that it's impossible not to be drawn in. Great work from Day-Lewis and Keener is no surprise, but Belle matches them as a near wild-child confronting the compromises and conflicting desires of adult life. The perfectly pitched cast also includes Jena Malone (Saved), Jason Lee (Mumford), and Beau Bridges (The Fabulous Baker Boys). Writer/director Rebecca Miller (Personal Velocity) has a gift for both hope and heartbreak. This is only the third film of what promises to be a long and rich career. --Bret Fetzer