MUDBOUND (2017 USA)

Ben Meyers’ rating: 3.9|5.0 Starsììì

Mudbound works for its money. This strongly realistic story depicts how people support each other across racial lines when there is trouble and shows how conflicting agendas, coupled with both good and bad life events, work to create disparity between people. The film shows, at a basic level, what works and what does not work in real life. The film deserves praise for its different approach to racism, the needs of land owners versus sharecroppers, and how soldiers sometimes handled post-traumatic stress syndrome after World War II. The story is well supported by its cast.

Storyline

Two Mississippi family stories intertwine and overlap as a sharecropping family and the farm’s new owners’ family each greet their returning World War II war veterans.

Additional Thanks

Thank You to Director Dee Rees for directing efforts. Thank you to Executive Producers Teddy Schwarzman,  Daniel Steinman, Robert Teitel, Kyle Tekiela, George Tillman, Jr., and Virgil Williams for making the film possible. Additional characters/cast include: Laura McAllan (Carey Mulligan), Jamie McAllan (Garrett Hedlund), Henry McAllan (Jason Clarke), Pappy McAllan (Jonathan Banks), Hap Jackson (Rob Morgan), Florence Jackson (Mary J. Blige), Rose Tricklebank (Kerry Cahill), Ronsel Jackson (Jason Mitchell), Weeks (Kelvin Harrison, Jr.), Vera Atwood (Lucy Faust), Carl Atwood (Dylan Arnold), Resl (Samantha Hoefer), and Pretty Girl (Elizabeth Ashling).

Buy a ticket? Yes? No? Maybe?

Yes. While this movie does not work at the classic film level, it’s a worthy, solid story that serves the  late teen/adult audience. 

Ben Meyers