The Mudge Boy
A boy, his chicken, and a burning gay crush drive this eloquently shot, intelligently written and sublimely acted rural American drama, which takes its cues from traditional gay teen coming-of-age films but reroutes them into something completely fresh.
Member Reviews
The only game in town - luminol
Off-beat coming of age story with an interesting twist. The twist being, in this farming community all the boys are shoe horned from birth into a single kind of rugged masculinity; that of stoic self reliance---so communication skills will be cast along the wayside. Which has served his father (Richard Jenkins) for most of his life; however, Duncan (Emile Hirsch) has a deeper emotional range and obvious intelligence. Maybe he hasn't quite verbalized it yet, but he's intuited this archetype is counterfeit and not for him.
The interesting thing is this community is kind of scattered to the sticks, and assembles only for the Sunday Church service, so this pattern may not be working for the other boys as well but will remain hidden for years and rear it's head only through alcoholism and sudden pristine violence.
The death of his mother forces his father and Duncan together, out of simple emotional necessity, he begins to take his clues from her. Which, of course totally bewilders his father. Duncan also takes over her egg route which sends him out into the larger world. And endlessly delights the older kids who discover they've got a chicken boy in their midst.
Nice touches? Father and son are distant, when he gets angry and slaps him once, Duncan rubs that sting on his cheek tenderly. I liked the pillow shots (a bit of verdure here; a landscape there; the unpainted grey exteriors of the farmhouse) Plus the great character name: Duncan Mudge ... Budge? Smudge?A true hidden gem! - eoguy
People who are always seeking hidden gems tend to complain that there just aren't enough of them that they haven't already seen. Look no further than Mudge Boy, because this one is a low-budget flick that debuted at Sundance a couple years ago and is definitely worth the look.
Excellent and deeply moving the film is odd and some of the painfully beautiful moments only Independent cinema can deliver. Fourteen-year-old Duncan, whose mother has recently died, is brought to life by Emile Hirsch who makes your heart ache at his incredibly poignant portrayal of a young boy lost and alone - struggling with the loss of his mother, an estranged father.
The object of Duncans affection is his only friend, Perry - played with harsh starkness by Tom Guiry. Richard Jenkins (known for his role as the deceased father Nathaniel Fisher on the HBO hit series Six Feet Under) delivers a haunting and subtle performance as Duncans heart broken father with a palatable sadness. But it's Hirsch who carries the film a monumental achievement considering he's in every scene of the film. Anything but ordinary this odd dark peek into this boys shattered and desperate soul is anything but your typical Hollywood fare - a movie about the entire complexity of layers that make us human.
Member Reviews
Read All...
The only game in town - luminol
Off-beat coming of age story with an interesting twist. The twist being, in this farming community all the boys are shoe horned from birth into a single kind of rugged masculinity; that of stoic self reliance---so communication skills will be cast along the ...A true hidden gem! - eoguy
People who are always seeking hidden gems tend to complain that there just aren't enough of them that they haven't already seen. Look no further than Mudge Boy, because this one is a low-budget flick that debuted at Sundance a couple years ago and is definitely ...