Mudbound

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This is a movie that focuses on the worst elements in the south before and after WW2. If you like movies that show how miserable people can be to each other you might enjoy watching this movie. You know where the movie is headed a mile out and it slowly gets there, too slow for me and far too long. In the end, all you get is a miserable feeling and wonder why people would produce a movie about the miseries of people. Then again, miserable people might be the ones who produce miserable movies that show people at their worst. Waste of time.

Mudbound stands as tall as it can, on its conviction and the quality of the performances, but its feet are sinking into the ground under the weight of too many clichés. The material is too familiar; kindness overwhelming racial tension, disgruntling aftermath of war and family feuding tied to a fallen American dream. It is heavily saturated in themes that are as rich as they are unoriginal, and the script is comprised of recycled lines like "At least I looked 'em in the eye when I killed 'em" and "You're not a big war hero, you're a drunk." But the movie still gets by. It's a smoothly interwoven soap opera about two families the McAllens (white) and the Jackson's (Black) living on the same piece of Mississippi farmland, both with a son who has gone (and come back from) the war. The sons become friends. Together they wallow in self pity, but deep down they have a yearning to be back there, where they feel they belong, where they are seen as heroes, and where colour matters not. The early scenes in the movie are cut fairly short to accommodate the exposition of an ensemble cast As a result, the opening act feels a bit rushed, but it succeeds in setting up a realized and sympathetic environment. In so far as the movie has any breakthroughs, it showcases rising star Garrett Hedlund in best acting to date. He sports a Glarke Gable moustache that is so sexy its almost distracting in a film where everyone is covered in dirt. but the mud is the real star of the movie. It brings a reality to an otherwise dreamy landscape of warm sunsets and endless fields of green.

This is by far one of the best movies i've seen this year, and in my opinion will stand to be one of the best period pieces ever created. Two different families living in the same environment, but in different worlds at the same time. The performances were real and grounded, which created some memorable moments on camera. This film doesn't a very good job of displaying the natural love one human can have for another, regardless of their racial background, that racism is a learned trait. The films also highlights the lasting effects of war (PTSD,...). Outstanding film!

The story follows two men who return home from WWII to Mississippi and each has a difficult time adjusting to post-war life and dealing with the racism that is unavoidable in their hometown. Garrett Hedlund and Jason Mitchell are the two war vets, and the cast is rounded out by Jason Clarke, Mary J. Blige and Carey Mulligan. The direction is confident from young African-American woman named Dee Rees. The film was also shot and edited by women, Rachel Morrison and Mako Kamitsura respectively. The story is strong, base on a book by Hillary Jordan, and the film looks gorgeous. The performances are all strong and I expect this film will be a contender at next year's Oscars. Highly recommended.

Greetings again from the darkness. The Jim Crow South and WWII have each spawned many movies, and both play a crucial role in director Dee Rees' (BESSIE) adaptation (co-written with Virgil Williams) of Hillary Jordan's 2008 novel. It's the story of two families, the Jacksons and the McAllans, striving for daily survival in rural Mississippi during the 1940's. The Jacksons are a black family tenant-farming on land owned by the white McAllans who transplanted from Memphis. This land is so remote and life so hard, that tractors are almost non-existent and mules are rare enough. There is such a bleakness to this existence that all seem oblivious to the always present mudhole leading to the front door of their shack. Elation comes in the form of a privacy wall constructed around the outdoor family shower, or the sweetness of a bar of chocolate. Soon after D-Day, Florence and Hap Jackson send their son Ronsel off to war. The same thing is happening across the 200 acre farm to Jamie McAllan, brother of Henry and son of Pappy. A shifting of multiple narrators throughout allows us access to the perspectives of multiple characters. We get both black and white views on war and farming. Days in war bring injury, death and dirt … not so dissimilar to life on a Mississippi farm. When Ronsel and Jamie return from war, they are both suffering. Ronsel can't come to grips with how he was treated as a redeemer in Europe, but just another 'black man' being targeted by the KKK at home, while Jamie is shell-shocked into alcoholism and an inability to function in society. The parallels between the war experience of Ronsel and Jamie lead them to a friendship that ultimately can't be good for either. Jason Clarke plays Henry and Carey Mulligan, his wife Laura. Jonathan Banks ("Breaking Bad", "Better Call Saul") is the ultimate nasty racist Pappy, while Garrett Hedlund is Jamie. Rob Morgan and Mary J Blige are Hap and Florence Jackson, and Jason Mitchell (STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON) is Ronsel. While all perform well, it's Mitchell and Hedlund who are particular standouts, as is a radio reference of the great Lou Boudreau. Rachel Morrison's cinematography is terrific and captures both the hardscrabble life of Mississippi, but also the frantic and tragic abruptness of war (in just a couple of scenes). Racism is always difficult to watch, and in that era, everyone had their place/plight in life. It was a structure built to ensure misery for most, and one guaranteed to collapse. The acting here is very strong and the film is well made. The story-telling is consistently disquieting and periodically unbearable. Still, we are all tired (or should be) of hatred. The somewhat hopeful ending caused an audible sigh of relief from an audience of viewers who had been angry and clinched for more than two hours. And though there is no joy in Mudville, we remain hopeful, even today.

Much of this movie (like so many recent movies) was filmed in natural light which for me basically ruined the viewing experience. From the opening scene on, I had a lot of problems trying to figure out who was who and what was happening. At some point, I couldn't tell who had died in the war and who had survived. While the story line and the acting were excellent, the directing (or perhaps the editing) also left a lot to be desired. Many scenes were rambling and seemed to serve little if no purpose. My guess is that the story was too thin to carry an entire movie so filler had to be added. If the director was trying to create the ambiance of a slow, southern lifestyle indicative of the era, then kudos, otherwise, they failed to keep the narrative moving at an appropriate pace. Since there were so may compelling issues addressed and the movie's heart was in the right place, I really wanted to like this movie a great deal more than I actually did.