Mudbound (2017)

[baumer]

Discuss

[Lordmandeep]

On Netflix.

 

 

Interesting setting but does not deliver 

 

B minus

[The Panda]

Mudbound is moving and engaging.  While the beats may play out rather expectedly, it's because the contents of the film are so real that any American aware of the social issues in our country wouldn't be shocked at what happens.  What makes it engaging is how well it explores the context of race relations, domestic issues and PTSD, with each of the main four narrative characters offering insight into some of each of these four.  It's sad, yet hopeful at the end of it all, yet also in a sort of depressing way (in which the characters couldn't solve their issues at home, and the only chance of peace was to move away.  Meanwhile the two women never get that option).  

 

The cinematography is beautiful, and the ensemble is fantastic.

 

My biggest gripe about the movie is Poppy seems almost a little to stereotypical in his 'old, angry white racist' character, but at the same time you can see the realism in it too.  I did find it poetic that they bury him in a slave's grave at the beginning of the movie, being buried in the dirt that was worked by the people he hated.

 

It's Netflix's best original to date.  A-

[CoolioD1]

can't remember the last time the last line of a movie hit me like a ton of bricks in the way this one did.

 

this really felt like a lost great american classic or something to me. just beautifully told. the multiple narrations i was nervous about at the start but i really think it ended up being necessary it gives a lot of shading to those main six characters. and the whole cast is perfectly in tune with the material too. loved the guy who played jason mitchell's dad the most.

[WrathOfHan]

What those two said. Jason Mitchell was a clear standout, and I was tearing up at the end.

[Cmasterclay]

Dis shit is fucking GREAT. Unbelievable ensemble, there's five genuine Oscar worthy performances, as good an ensemble as I can remember. It has a ton to say and it says it in unique way that still feels rooted in classical storytelling. This is a full-blown epic, but with a very real, hard earned grounding that makes it something gut wrenching. I loved it. I think this ages incredibly well, and when we look back in ten years, we think of this as one of the very few first movies to define this year, tbh.

[aabattery]

I pretty much mirror thoughts of everyone here (minus LMD). This one stuck with me a lot this week. Real good stuff.

 

Pretty bummed I'll never get the chance to see it in theatres tbh.

[MrPink]

Thought it was great. Fantastic cinematography. Cast was great all around with Ronsel, Jamie, and Hap as my standouts 

[zozo]

I am not American, yet this movie (which set place in US in pre-, during, and after WWII) keep engaged me during the whole movie. It is a slow-paced movie. If you like fast-paced artmovies, then it is not your movie.

 

Minimalist cinematography, but it still shows everything. It would be a festival winning movie in Cannes. I read that it has been already shown in Sundace. And no prize

 

I give 8 points out of 10.

[Goffe]

It takes a lot subjects (race relations, poverty, women's place in society, PTSD) and combines them in one bland mixture that reminds me of countless other movies, but, you know, far less compelling.

 

Also, period pieces shouldn't be shot on digital and this movie is another example of why.

 

4/10

[Joel M]

This along with Okja are probably the only netflix movies I'll remember 2 years from now. But I don't think it's quite the epic classic it strives to be. The ambition is certainly clear from the first minutes when you get that there are multiple narrators and all the performances are great but not everything about the movie works. Henry's passive aggresive behaviour towards Hap's family and the way he treats them kinda sorta like slaves and they have to let it slide every time is a very rich subplot thematically, and Carey Mulligan looks compelling enough at the start  to follow her struggles, but both of these threads kinda dissapear the moment the sons come home. Carey Mulligan finally kissing Jamie or Henry demanding Hap to bury his despicable father are both powerful scenes but they are both undercut by how the movie treats those stories as an afterthough in the second half. The good thing though is the story that gives the movie its heart is absolutely riveting. From the moment Jaime and Ronsel meet I was pretty sure this won't end well, but their chemistry and their friendship through shared experiences is so beautiful it makes it all the more heartbreaking.

 

I cried in the end, I wanted to smash my TV when the KKK shit went down and I was moved and impressed by the performances. But in the end something about it felt a bit off. It felt like it was too long and not long enough at the same time. I think if it was 30 minutes shorter and more focused around Ronsel and Jamie from the start or 30 minutes longer with a bit more focus on every other character in the second half it could be a great movie.

 

It's still very good as it is.

 

B+.

Edited January 3, 2018 by Joel M

[rockNrollaDIM]

I was low key blown away by this. Really wasn’t expecting much but found it incredibly engaging, it just pulled me right in. Wonderful performances all around. 

[dxmatrixdt]

first netflix movie I ever saw.  It was just ok.  Tried Cloverfield Paradox right after and turned it off 30 minutes in....    Without doing research and just basing off movie memory, I thought Mudbound might have ties to the other two movies: Miracle at St. Anna and the George Lucas Tuskegee Raiders one.  I wish I would work on my literary mind to actually post reviews. 

4 nominations...S Actress, A Screenplay, song and cinematography.

 

B

Edited February 19, 2018 by Matrix4You

[elcaballero]

Recently resubscribed to Netflix, so I finally got around to watching this.

 

Simply put, Mudbound is a work of art. It's poetic, gorgeous to look at, and hooked me to the point where I felt trapped in the setting with the characters.

 

An A all the way from me.

[Blankments]

Mudbound struggles to really make an impression. The cast is excellent, but most of these roles have been done before by better actors with a better script. Mitchell and Hedlund electrify their scenes though, and one can easily imagine a film more focused on their characters would've been a much more fascinating take on this time period and the themes the film tries to tackle. Otherwise, Morgan is excellent and the cinematography is nice. However, Mudbound ultimately feels like a whole lot of nothing until the aforementioned duo gains focus, and thus, it's half a good movie, half a disappointingly dull one. Worth a watch, but there's nothing to ruminate on here. C+

[Barnack]

Photography and design was really impressive on this, was really something imo.