The youth-oriented movie introduces a glowing young Australian actress with true star potential -- the international model Gemma Ward.
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10/18/08
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The Black Balloon (2008)
90
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:39
Fresh:35
Rotten:4
Average Rating:7/10
Consensus: A tender and witty portrayal of a family coping with autism, The Black Balloon is heartfelt without being schmaltzy or moralizing.
Runtime: 1 hr 37 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: The Black Balloon is a story about fitting in, discovering love, and accepting your family. It’s not easy being Thomas. He’s turning sixteen; and moving into a new house, and school. His older... [More]
Starring: Rhys Wakefield, Luke Ford, Toni Collette, Erik Thomson
Director: Elissa Down
Reviews for The Black Balloon
Tackles a serious theme with energy and what sometimes feels like too much hilarity. But as the story deepens, it really gets hold of us.
08/17/08
It's a well-meaning film, marked by Luke Ford's sensitive portrayal of a disabled character. But the main character is bland, imparting the same vibe on the rest of the film.
08/14/09
The Black Balloon is neither 'Rain Man' nor 'The Other Sister. This Aussie charmer charts its own course.
05/03/09
Thomas and Jackie's friendship, blossoming into a chaste romance, is the dramatic engine that powers The Black Balloon, but it's far from the most important relationship in the film.
05/01/09
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04/23/09
The film's vision is neither a grim wallow nor falsely cheerful. It's compassionate but unblinking, and in the end we can't help but admire the genuine strength of how its characters accept their special challenge.
04/17/09
The Black Balloon is marked by the fiercest bravery you're likely to encounter on screen this year.
04/16/09
At its sharpest Elissa Down’s feature directorial debut is guided by intense, rough-edged emotional swings that feel authentically alive, even when the script settles for tidiness.
04/10/09
The Black Balloon establishes this family with a delicate mixture of tenderness and pain.
04/10/09
Top CriticA film that mostly skirts artifice and sentimentality for a truer portrait of a family battered and bruised but nowhere near broken.
04/09/09
The outlines are broad and obvious, and Thomas such a bore, that The Black Balloon loses air.
04/08/09
There are wrenching scenes that are brutally stark, yet there remains a steady sense of calm that is touching and sensitive without ever turning sentimental.
04/02/09
Structurally and cinematically, The Black Balloon sticks to the coming-of-age basics, but [director] Down has a gift for conveying time and place.
04/02/09
It sometimes skirts melodrama territory, but the deep emotions ultimately are real and gratifying. Dependable Toni Collette keeps it grounded, disappearing into her role as the incredibly patient mother.
03/06/09
The Black Balloon, a splendid Australian film about a teenager and his older autistic brother, gets it, from the happy/sad imagery of the title through the uplifting, but not saccharine, finale.
03/06/09
Collette aside, there is no wow factor in The Black Balloon -- just a not-bad story told with better-than-average skill.
03/06/09
It's a film about a supposedly real-world set-up that never feels true, even though the people who made it clearly set out to treat their subject matter and the audience with respect.
03/06/09
It’s brilliant; a beautifully balanced comedy-drama that makes you laugh as much as it makes you cry, sometimes in the same scene.
01/12/09
It’s brilliant; a beautifully balanced comedy-drama that makes you laugh as much as it makes you cry, sometimes in the same scene.
01/12/09
Latest News for The Black Balloon
December 09, 2008:
Trailer & Poster review 
More...
December 07, 2008:
The Black Balloon wins big at the AFIs
Check out the frocks, shocks, trophies and tantrums at the AFI Awards. More...
July 01, 2008:
Edinburgh 2008: What to Watch
We share twenty of the best films screened at the Edinburgh International Film Festival, currently running in the Scottish city. More...
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