Upon seeing the short film FISHBELLY WHITE (part of BOYS LIFE 5) I thought that Michael Burke's story of an off-beat rural farm boy and his pet chicken was both charming and shocking. I even thought it would be fascinating to see a feature length film of the story. I was wrong. Whatever the lyrical magic was that made FISHBELLY WHITE so fascinating seems to have disappeared in THE MUDGE BOY. The main problem is the film's determination to change the character of Perry from a mysteriously handsome romantic hero to a brutish homophobe. In FISHBELLY, Perry is Duncan's (and the viewer's) Heathcliff - a hunky farmhand who befriends our hero. The scene under the train bridge is breathtakingly romantic. MUDGE tries to re-create the scene, but the tone is quite different, with a defensive Perry ruining the mood entirely. Emile Hirsch turns in a fine performance as the sensitive Duncan. Richard Jenkins (of "Six Feet Under" fame) is fine as the grieving dad but Tom Guiry seems all wrong as the bitter Perry. While there is much to recommend THE MUDGE BOY, it's predecessor is a country mile ahead of MUDGE, proving less is sometimes 'mudge' more.
Review of The Mudge Boy
