See It or Skip It: The Black Balloon

December 5, 2008 at 6:14am PST

Tags: Elissa Down, Gemma Ward, Leonardo DiCaprio, Luke Ford, Rhys Wakefield, The Black Balloon, Toni Collette, What's Eating Gilbert Grape

Photos: NeoClassics Films

Uplifting and unexpected, The Black Balloon, writer-director Elissa Down’s touching semi-autobiographical film centers around Thomas (19-year-old Rhys Wakefield in a remarkable performance) as he tries to fit into to his family’s new home. Desperate to assimilate and win the affections of Jackie (Gemma Ward), Thomas has to grapple with his pregnant mother (the imminently-watchable Toni Collete), a father who likes to consult with his teddy bear, Rex (Erik Thomson) and his severely autistic brother, Charlie (Luke Ford).

Ward adeptly manages to sidestep most model-turned-actor clichés and delivers a performance that is both ethereal and stirring while Ford, who some may remember from this summer’s Mummy sequel, gives the most convincing portrayal of a profoundly handicapped child since Leonardo DiCaprio in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, a film that shares many parallels with Balloon and deserves similar praise.

See it.

And for more on this incredible film, be sure to check out Filmazing.

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