The Mudge Boy (2003)

Director:

Michael Burke

Writer:

Michael Burke (writer)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Fourteen-year-old misfit farm boy Duncan Midge tries to cope with his mother's death. To do so, he mimics her behaviors...

Plot Keywords:

Farm | Fur Coat | Misfit | Grief | Death

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Emile Hirsch	...	Duncan Mudge
Tom Guiry	...	Perry Foley (as Thomas Guiry)
Richard Jenkins	...	Edgar Mudge
Pablo Schreiber	...	Brent
Zachary Knighton	...	Travis
Ryan Donowho	...	Scotty
Meredith Handerhan	...	Tonya
Beckie King	...	April
Sandra Gartner	...	Lydia Mudge
Tara O'Reilly	...	Emily Foley
Barbara Lloyd	...	Irene Blodgett
Sam Lloyd	...	Ray Blodgett
Hannah Franzoni	...	Tracey Foley
George Woodard	...	Merrit Foley
Munson Hicks	...	Minister
Rose Marie Perfect	...	Store Owner
Macklen Makhloghi	...	Drunken Teen
Sean Flood	...	Teen's Friend
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
John Alexander	...	Juster (uncredited)
Joshua J. Masters	...	Hay Bailer (uncredited)

Directed by
Michael Burke

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Michael Burke		writer

Produced by
Elizabeth W. Alexander	....	producer
Alison Benson	....	producer
Kevin Burke	....	associate producer
Randy Ostrow	....	producer
George Paaswell	....	line producer
Stanley Tucci	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Marcelo Zarvos

Cinematography by
Vanja Cernjul		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Affonso Gonçalves

Casting by
Kathleen Chopin
Michele Ortlip

Production Design by
David Doernberg

Art Direction by
Bartholomew Miali

Set Decoration by
Victoria Morris

Costume Design by
Toni Fusco

Makeup Department
Brian Abbott	....	assistant hair stylist
Brian Abbott	....	assistant makeup artist
Leo Won	....	hair department head
Leo Won	....	makeup department head

Production Management
Tom Wallin	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Thomas Fatone	....	first assistant director
Patrick Gibbons	....	second assistant director (as Patrick D. Gibbons)
Brian Wray	....	second second assistant director

Art Department
Damon Chessé	....	on-set dresser (as Damon Chesse)
Joey Pelletier	....	art department production assistant
Scott Zweizen	....	property master

Sound Department
Joshua Anderson	....	boom operator
Kevin Bowe	....	boom operator
Damian Canelos	....	sound mixer (as Damian Elias Canelos)
Tom Efinger	....	sound re-recording mixer
Tom Efinger	....	sound supervisor
Joseph Hyun	....	assistant sound editor
Thomas Kodros	....	consultant: Dolby sound
Nicholas Montgomery	....	sound designer
John Moros	....	assistant sound
Eric Offin	....	sound mixer
Jay Peck	....	foley artist
Toby Rymkus	....	sound assistant
Abigail Savage	....	additional sound effects editor
Abigail Savage	....	dialogue editor
Craig Spencer	....	additional foley recordist

Special Effects by
Robert Firpo	....	pyrotechnics: Firpo Effects (as Bob Firpo)
Ron Marcus	....	pyrotechnics: Firpo Effects
Yuji Yoshimoto	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Drake Conrad	....	scanning recording

Stunts
Art Howard	....	safety diver
Gary Littlejohn	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Sebastián Almeida	....	second assistant camera (as Sebastian Almeida)
Matthew Clark	....	gaffer
Pierrot Colonna	....	focus puller
Matthew Craig	....	third electrician
Cat Crosby	....	swing
Amy Hall	....	third grip
Matthew J. Hall	....	first assistant camera: "b" camera (as Matt Hall)
Brian Hubbard	....	camera operator: "b" camera
Deidre Lally	....	best boy electric
Thomas Orbon	....	grip
Matt Schuman	....	third grip
Debbie Stampfle	....	camera loader
David Stern	....	key grip (as Dave Stern)
Andy Westbrook	....	best boy grip
JoJo Whilden	....	still photographer

Casting Department
Sandy Gartner	....	extras casting: Vermont
Eric Zuckerman	....	casting associate

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Morgan Bennison	....	wardrobe production assistant
Carrie Rees	....	wardrobe supervisor

Editorial Department
Sean Cooney	....	post-production executive
Leo Curbelo	....	additional editor
Alfredo Frasson	....	color timer
Joshua Lawrence	....	assistant editor (as Joshua C. Lawrence)
Dave Muscat	....	telecine suite operator
Catherine Rankin	....	negative cutter

Music Department
Andy Barbera	....	musician: guitar
Junah Chung	....	musician: viola
Cenovia Cummins	....	musician: violin
Ralph Ferris	....	musician: viola
Susan Jacobs	....	music consultant (as Sue Jacobs)
Dorothy Lawson	....	musician: cello
Lawrence Manchester	....	score mixer
Lawrence Manchester	....	score recordist
Mark Stewart	....	musician: guitar
Marcelo Zarvos	....	musician: piano

Transportation Department
Thomas Orbon	....	driver: grip and electric truck (as Tom Orbon)

Other crew
Vicki Adams	....	set production assistant
Benjamin J. Baker	....	set production assistant
Jon Bevins	....	production intern
Andrew Cambell	....	weapons handler
Andrea F. Cannistraci	....	production legal
John Dempsey	....	set security
Kat Donahue	....	assistant location manager
Mary Donovan	....	assistant production office coordinator (as Mary J. Donovan)
Dylan Flood	....	set intern
Sean Flood	....	chicken wrangler
Lee 'Flea' Griffin	....	set security
Robert A. Holland	....	craft service
Lori Hornung	....	production office coordinator
Art Howard	....	set medic
Andrew Hurwitz	....	legal counsel: Epstein, Levinsohn, Bodine, Hurwitz & Weinstein
Paul Jardine	....	set medic
Willie Kennedy	....	caterer
Alan 'Muscle' Kenter	....	set security
Stephen Levin	....	set production assistant (as Stephen A. Levin)
Katherine Lindberg	....	script supervisor
Zachary May	....	production office assistant (as Zach T. May)
Sol McLeilan	....	set medic
Daniel Pollack	....	location manager
James Puleo	....	production assistant: First Cold Press Production
Carlin Reagan	....	set production assistant
Gil Richardson	....	process trailer
Jason Rosegren	....	office production assistant
Kim Thompson	....	key production assistant (as Kimberly A. Thompson)

Production Companies

• First Cold Press Productions
• Showtime Pictures

Distributors

• Mudge Boy LLC
• Showtime Networks (USA)
• Strand Releasing (2004) (USA)

Special Effects

• Cine-Byte Imaging (digital opticals)
• Firpo Effects (pyrotechnics)

Other Companies

• Abrigo Music  music published by
• Alpine Wildlife Art  custom taxidermy
• Digit Audio  audio post facility
• Epstein, Levinsohn, Bodine, Hurwitz & Weinstein  legal services
• Kampo Studios  score recorded and mixed at
• MAC  makeup (as MAC)
• Manhattan Center Studios  score recorded and mixed at (as Manhattan Center)
• Panavision  camera equipment
• Paris Studios  lighting and grip equipment
• Runnin' Shot  process trailer
• Sundance Institute, The  developed with the assistance of
• Tandem Sound  sound post-production
• Temptu  body art
• The Edit Center  additional editing

MPAA:

Rated R for strong sexual content including graphic dialogue, a rape, and language.

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Chile:14 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Rutland, Vermont, USA

Company:

First Cold Press Productions

Trivia:

Michael Burke developed the screenplay for the film at a Sundance Labs in 2000. Burke says of inspiration for the film: "Growing up in rural Vermont, I wanted to tell a story about a kid too sensitive for the harsh environment in which he was raised."

Quotes:

Perry Foley: Say it!
Perry Foley: Say you're a bitch!

Movie Connections:

Remake of Fishbelly White (1998)

Emotionally Painful Film

I gave this film 8 stars out of a possible 10. The film was well done, but I felt very uncertain just what message it was conveying.

Was it saying gays, especially rural ones, are weirdos? Or was it saying homophobes are oftimes gay themselves? For that matter just who was gay? Both boys? Neither of them? Or only one of them, and if so which one? The film deals with some heavy subject matter, and some of the scenes are unsettling and disturbing, not due to sexual orientations, but the cruel behavior exhibited by some of the characters.

Being an outsider is always difficult, and that is what the Mudge boy is. He doesn't fit in. When his mother dies from a heart attack (very early in the film, we never even meet her), he has pretty much lost his best friend right then and there.

His father, like most of the men depicted in this rural area, is a hard man, mostly lacking in compassion and sensitivity.

The only other friend this young man has is a pet, a white Leghorn hen, who was the odd chick in the hatchlings, just like he's the oddball among other teens in the area.

When he crosses paths one day with some locals, he wants desperately to fit in with them and their rough shod ways. The viewer will know the moment he meets them, this can come to no good.

A film for the serious adult viewer who wants something different that will make him or her think.