The Ballad of Jack & Rose (2005)

Image credit: The Ballad of Jack and Rose: IFC Films

Gaunt as a scarecrow, Daniel Day-Lewis fills the screen as Jack, a dying force of nature in an Edenic ex-commune, fighting suburban sprawl with his last breath. Daughter Rose (Camilla Belle, an old soul in waif's clothing) shares his us-against-the-world view — and rebels when Jack's lover (a softer-edged Catherine Keener) and her two sons prove more intrusive than the developers. Writer-director Rebecca Miller, Day-Lewis' wife, doesn't skimp on the incestuous subtext or obvious symbolism (ahem, a snake slinks past as Rose loses her innocence), but in the actors' agile hands, this bewitching Ballad of Jack & Rose stops short of tawdry. EXTRAS None.