Netflix is so puzzling. It’s pushing Bright as its first foray into big blockbuster filmmaking, hoping it will be a critical and commercial success. That movie is dumb as nails, kinda like Netflix for choosing it, particularly since they also released in December a much better representative of their moviemaking prowess. Mudbound is an impressive sprawling story about life on the Mississippi Delta during World War II. It’s not quite spectacular, but it’s a damn good film, even without Will Smith and orcs.
Though not the Hatfields and McCoy’s, Mudbound is about two families on the Mississippi Delta, bound together by location and war. The McAllan family is the white family that owns the property. Henry (Jason Clarke) is the family decision maker, with wife Laura (Carey Mulligan), a woman of simple means. They house Henry’s father Pappy (Jonathan Banks) and brother Jamie (Garrett Hedlund). Managing the McAllan’s property is the African-American Jackson family. Hap (Rob Morgan) does all the manual labor, and Florence (Mary J. Blige) proves adept at doctoring Laura’s kids as well as her own. Jamie and the Jackson’s oldest Ronsel (Jason Mitchell) go off and fight in World War II, both fighting for the same country, but both of them have experiences that force them to question the world order they return to when they get back.
Boy is Mudbound ambitious. The subjects this film is trying to tackle includes but is not limited to, race relations in Mississippi, World War II aerial and tank battles, PTSD, generational strife, female empowerment….I could keep going. Writer/Director Dee Rees has lots of stuff she wants to say, and makes sure she finds at least a moment to get all of these themes in there. Via voiceover and slow, deliberate camerawork, Rees sets up who these people are quickly, and gives the story a slow building tension and sense of dread and grandeur simultaneously. Like a small town, when the two young males experience life outside the world they knew, the unchanging life on the delta gets a dose of reality, and Mudbound becomes a clashing of future and past in a really interesting way. The ending feels rushed compared to the really great beginning, as if Rees realized she had to end the story, but in that rush is the most intense scenes of the film that will have you riveted with what will become of the fate of the characters.
Even though there isn’t a huge name here, Mudbound is filled with great thespians dying to be recognized. Garrett Hedlund and Jason Mitchell carry most of the emotional heavy lifting of Mudbound, and get the biggest arc’s. I was most impressed by Hedlund, who morphs from charming boy toy to dead eyed jaded war vet. Mary J. Blige should no longer just be considered just a singer. Her Florence is saddled with so many burdens and responsibilities, but she carries herself with the steel reserve every person wishes they had. Rob Morgan and Carey Mulligan do well as the put upon spouses who dream but feel stuck in the pun-intended mud. Jonathan Banks is pretty one note and Jason Clarke is probably the weakest of the leads, but they carry themselves well enough to prop up their star role players.
Like all good movies, Mudbound has stayed with me since I saw it. The movie has scenes and moments of great power with a clear vision by a director who I hope gets more roles in Hollywood. One question though, Dee Rees: really? Ya couldn’t get Mary J. Blige to sign off on Family Affair as your theme song? Come on, that’s perfect!