Rebecca Miller has written and directed another fine film that probes the consequences of the passage of time and life, finding incongruities in ideals and realities impacting everyday people. The result is a film of tenderness and dashed hopes and unconditional love between a father and daughter.

Jack Slavin (Daniel Day-Lewis) is a Scottish immigrant who mentally still lives in the 1960s, full of adoration of nature and the idealistic expectations of the Hippies reacting against a country at war with Vietnam. He and his daughter Rose (Camilla Belle) now (in 1986) live in a deserted hippie commune on an island off the East Coast of the USA. Their relationship is idyllic, living off the land, at one with nature. Jack has heart failure and worries about the fate of his isolated Rose almost as much as he loathes the inevitable encroachment of land developers such as Marty Rance (Beau Bridges) who is building houses on the precious wetlands on the opposite side of Jack's island.

Jack seeks to solve (control) problems: he invites his girlfriend Kathleen (Catherine Keener) and her two sons Rodney (Ryan McDonald) and Thaddius (Paul Dano) to enlarge his family at the old commune, and he confronts Marty with threats that he will destroy the development project. Once the extended family is formed, Rose views Jack having sex with Kathleen, decides she must 'grow up' and attempts to enter womanhood by unsuccessfully seducing Rodney and ultimately losing her virginity to Thaddius, an event she makes public by hanging her stained banner sheet on the windswept clothesline. Jack reacts in rage then anguish at his failure to provide a secure, healthy future for Rose, and in time gives in to the developers and draws Rose back to him in a final scene that is one of the most touching farewells on film.

Daniel Day-Lewis is so completely immersed in his character that he never for a moment loses our compassion. The entire cast is excellent, the pacing of this sensitive script is extraordinary, and the entire production crew (cinematography, music, editing, etc) shares the sense of commitment to Miller's direction. This is a genuinely touching film completely without the saccharine tones that could have overtaken the story. Highly Recommended. Grady Harp

My pick for male Oscar winner so far this year is Daniel Day-Lewis as an eccentric father of a precocious girl in The Ballad of Jack and Rose.

I don't think the bard suggested incest on the menu for Prospero and Miranda, but in this ballad dad and daughter alone on a remote peninsula off the East coast are not fighting just real estate developers and dad's lovers, they are dealing with incestuous feelings so subtly relayed that even our delicately Christian president might not be offended.

I have five beautiful daughters in the healthiest of relationships, but that a man alone with a bright, loving, free-spirited daughter could go to the dark side is the genius of this parable about the difficulties of living outside societal norms, which sometimes are fortunately restrictive of baser instincts.

Day-Lewis's conflicted protagonist is a marvelous piece of acting, the best of his career, and the most interesting this year.

This film disappeared locally right after its theatrical debut, so when IFC showed it recently, we rushed to catch up with it. Having admired its director, Rebecca Miller in all her films, we were right in seeing it in the wide screen of the main theater because that seems to be the perfect way to watch this intimate picture.

Ms. Miller takes us to an island off the coast of the continental mainland to set her story. As the film opens we watch Jack Flavin with his teen age daughter as they are perched on the roof of their strange cabin with the roof being made of lawn grass. They are father and daughter who have stayed in the land where years ago, had been a commune. We don't know what happened to Rose's mother, and nothing is clarified. We gather Jack and Rose have a special bond that at times border in incest.

Jack believes in keeping the island the way it is; development is coming fast and furious in the way of luxury homes being built in what probably will be a gated community where people of the same background and financial means will live, in sharp contrast as the commune idea that attracted Jack to the place. Jack, having inherited money from his father is financially secure, but still lives in a primitive way in a basic type of life. We see Jack as he takes pills; we realize he is not a well man.

When Jack takes a side trip to the mainland, he visits Kathleen, a single mother with two teen aged sons. Jack convinces her to come to live with him at the island. What Jack doesn't count is on Rose's reaction to the invasion to her space. In fact, the hatred for the invaders is instant. Katheleen, a kind woman herself, tries to reach Rose without any success. Rodney, one of the sons, has a weight problem, and has studied to be a hairdresser. Thaddius, is the rebel, who has an eye on the beautiful Rose.

Jack's basic intention for bringing Kathleen is to help him during his last days because he senses his days are numbered. When Thaddius suffers an accident, Kathleen takes the opportunity to go back home, leaving Jack and Rose to fend for themselves.

Ms. Miller takes an elegiac look at the situation making Jack into an almost Shakespearean character, that is, bigger than life. Jack is lovingly photographed in his many moods. The beautiful Rose's face shows all the emotions going on inside her. The director ought to be congratulated for involving us in the film and making us care for what will happen to Jack and Rose.

Daniel Day-Lewis is an actor who doesn't work much these days and that is our loss! As Jack, Mr. Day-Lewis has the rare opportunity to show his vulnerability and seems to be naked in front of our eyes because he doesn't hide the emotions from us. We know at any given moment what this man is thinking and what makes him tick. Mr. Day-Lewis gives a fabulous performance as he dominates the picture completely.

Camilla Belle is Rose. This young actress proves he is up to the task the director demands of her character. Not only is she beautiful, but she clearly exudes an innate intelligence that pays off in her portrayal of the girl who sees her world fall apart and has no way to stop what is killing her father.

Catherine Keener makes a valuable contribution to the film as Kathleen. She clearly is a gentle soul who is in love with Jack and wants to stay with him until the end. That is not meant to be because Jack realizes that in "importing" her to the island she gets in the way of the perfect balance between father and daughter.

Ryan McDonald makes the confused Rodney come alive. This young actor is a natural. The rest of the cast include minor appearances by Beau Bridges, Jason Lee, Jena Malone and Paul Dano, who plays Thaddius the other son.

"The Ballad of Jack and Rose" is clearly not for a wide audience because it's too intelligent to get a broader distribution, but the fans of Rebecca Miller will always cherish this film for what she brought to it and for the magnificent performances she got from her cast. The film is beautifully photographed Ellen Kuras and has an interesting score by Michael Rohatyn.