The Black Balloon

An actual black balloon makes only one appearance in this film. I have no idea why that garners a title role. Please enlighten me?

Rhys Wakefield plays the 15-going-on-16 son of a military father. The boy tries to fit in when his family moves to the new town. Many of us can relate to that awkward position. Complicating matters however are a PPD-NOS Autistic older brother, a pregnant mother, and a father who takes his orders from a teddy bear - literally. This otherwise nuclear family teeters on the edge of dysfunction and disintegration.

Luke Ford plays the otherwise-enabled older brother. Australian super model Gemma Ward plays the long-suffering new girlfriend of the younger brother. Everyone puts in a excellent performance which is why it's so hard to watch sometimes.

The gist of this movie? It's a roller coaster ride between the love/hate relationship of two brothers. My problem with it is that nobody really changes. There is no character evolution. The Dad keeps taking orders from the teddy bear. The Mom continues to be the only thing holding the family together. The older brother makes no improvements and the younger brother appears that he will go on bouncing from loathing to loving his autistic sib.

Watch this if you dare with someone who think THEY have a difficult family situation.