Mudbound: Solid History, Highlights Needed Discussions

Lately Netflix has been trying to prove that their original content can be just as good as any of their competitors, and Mudbound seems to be their attempt to garner some praise at the Academy Awards. What else could possibly prove that the studio helmed by the streaming service is as good as any of those who’ve been around since the film industry began? Certainly, this is a movie made for those who love movies that win Oscars® – it falls right into line with 12 Years a Slave (2013), Fences (2016), The Help (2011), and plenty more. Because of this, while the story may be pretty and deeply emotional, it still comes off feeling like a story you have definitely heard before, just with different characters and different circumstances. It might not be the most ground-breaking film of the season or an attempt at something new, but it is still well-written with some great performances.

In the 1930s Mississippi, two families find their lives revolving around one farm – Henry McAllan (Jason Clarke) and his wife Laura (Carey Mulligan) have moved to the farm from the big city to look after his aging father (Jonathan Banks) and tend the land that Henry views as his birthright; Hap Jackson (Rob Morgan), his wife Florence (Mary J. Bilge), and their children have lived on the farm all their lives, and after buying a share of the land that their ancestors used to tend as slaves, they plan to raise enough money to own a deed to a farm themselves. As World War II breaks out, eldest son Ronsel Jackson (Jason Mitchell) and Henry’s brother Jamie (Garrett Hedlund) head off to the front lines and experience a world very different than their own. When they return home, the two find themselves bonding over their experiences in war and their wishes for more than the life they have, but the country they fought to protect has not progressed in their absence.

This film’s bedrock is a solid foundation of amazing performances. There are several characters and sometimes their narration can get a little long and dry, but once their stories actually begin to unfold, the complex portrait that the movie wants you to admire becomes very clear. There is also no one performance that stands out – though Mary J. Bilge is the only actor acknowledged in this year’s Academy Awards lineup, any one of these performers would have been worthy of a nomination. My personal favorite is probably Rob Morgan’s portrayal of Hap Jackson, both a man broken down by years of disappointments but also eternally optimistic, planning for a future that isn’t necessarily grand – he really just wants to have a farm of his own – and will do whatever it takes to get there. That being said, you cannot overlook any of the other characters and the talent that brought them to life for us – Mitchell and Hedlund as former soldiers disillusioned with their new lives, Mulligan as a woman who has realized that her life is not nearly what she hoped it would be, even the deep hatred of the racist Banks; they are all bricks connecting the story on a deep and intimate level. The only character who could potentially be classified as a weak link is Henry McAllan, but that’s not because Clarke performs him badly – he is just a side character, almost a McGuffin, who the other characters use to develop themselves and expand on their own intricate personalities. At the very least, he’s less important to the story than the opening sequence would lead you to believe, and while you can definitely form an opinion about him, he will not be the character that commands your screen (or your attention).

This film does start off a little slowly, since there are quite a few characters who will guide us through our narrative and they all need to be introduced. The “slow-burn” take on the story makes it both more intricate and time consuming, so you should be prepared to put in the time. If you are ready for action after half an hour, this may not be your movie – there aren’t many action sequences to begin with, and the plot really kicks into gear at the 45 minute mark (if not longer). Mudbound mainly relies on this intimate portrayal of characters because the story, while deep and sometimes horrific, isn’t exactly new. That’s probably the real discussion that needs to be had about this film, rather than about the actual story – the fact that in 2018, we still have several movies about white men who don’t treat black men equally until they save their lives, about how a black soldier is forced to leave through the back door of a grocery store (in uniform) because of the color of his skin, and how cruel a place the South could be less than 80 years ago. It is the kind of film that will make you think about how it is possible for such treatment to ever have existed in this country – if you’re white – but it also doesn’t necessarily spark conversation about the topic either. The historical element of the story may be the reason, since it’s easier to brush off the horrible inequality of the past by telling yourself “well it’s the past; this was around World War 2; it was a different time.” It’s not to say that telling the story of what people suffered in those days isn’t important, but it may be time to start taking a closer look at the inequality that has persisted today, portrayed in the present climate. Get Out (2017) may not be a true story, but it sparked a conversation about what we can do about the racial tensions that the story of Mudbound shows have persisted for far too long.

4 / 5

Apparently one of Banks’ newest projects is The Incredibles II. Considering what I’ve seen him in before, I want to put out my first guess about the movie – he’s going to be the bad guy. He’s got the voice.