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IMDbPro

The Mudge Boy

  • 20032003
  • RR
  • 1h 34m
IMDb RATING
7.1/10
4.5K
YOUR RATING
The Mudge Boy (2003)
Fourteen-year-old misfit farm boy Duncan Midge tries to cope with his mother's death. To do so, he mimics her behavior, right down to wearing her fur coat to bed. This causes Duncan's father further grief, who doesn't understand his son's unusual mourning rites.
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  • Crime
  • Drama
  • Romance
The film follows the story of Duncan, a fourteen-year-old misfit farm boy trying to fill the void and alleviate the numbness left by his mother's passing. Unable to let her go quite yet, Dun... Read allThe film follows the story of Duncan, a fourteen-year-old misfit farm boy trying to fill the void and alleviate the numbness left by his mother's passing. Unable to let her go quite yet, Duncan mimics his dead mother. He talks in her voice at the dinner table and wears her fur co... Read allThe film follows the story of Duncan, a fourteen-year-old misfit farm boy trying to fill the void and alleviate the numbness left by his mother's passing. Unable to let her go quite yet, Duncan mimics his dead mother. He talks in her voice at the dinner table and wears her fur coat to bed. Edgar, Duncan's distant sixty-year-old father, doesn't understand the strange m... Read all
IMDb RATING
7.1/10
4.5K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Michael Burke
  • Writer
    • Michael Burke
  • Stars
    • Emile Hirsch
    • Richard Jenkins
    • Tom Guiry
Top credits
  • Director
    • Michael Burke
  • Writer
    • Michael Burke
  • Stars
    • Emile Hirsch
    • Richard Jenkins
    • Tom Guiry
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 33User reviews
    • 18Critic reviews
    • 62Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 1 win & 2 nominations

    Videos1

    Official Trailer
    Trailer 1:32
    Official Trailer

    Photos

    The Mudge Boy (2003)
    The Mudge Boy (2003)
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    Top cast

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    Emile Hirsch
    Emile Hirsch
    • Duncan Mudgeas Duncan Mudge
    Richard Jenkins
    Richard Jenkins
    • Edgar Mudgeas Edgar Mudge
    Tom Guiry
    Tom Guiry
    • Perry Foleyas Perry Foley
    • (as Thomas Guiry)
    Pablo Schreiber
    Pablo Schreiber
    • Brentas Brent
    Zachary Knighton
    Zachary Knighton
    • Travisas Travis
    Ryan Donowho
    Ryan Donowho
    • Scottyas Scotty
    Meredith Handerhan
    Meredith Handerhan
    • Tonyaas Tonya
    Beckie King
    Beckie King
    • Aprilas April
    Sandra Gartner
    • Lydia Mudgeas Lydia Mudge
    Tara O'Reilly
    Tara O'Reilly
    • Emily Foleyas Emily Foley
    Barbara Lloyd
    • Irene Blodgettas Irene Blodgett
    Sam Lloyd
    Sam Lloyd
    • Ray Blodgettas Ray Blodgett
    Hannah Franzoni
    • Tracey Foleyas Tracey Foley
    George Woodard
    George Woodard
    • Merrit Foleyas Merrit Foley
    Munson Hicks
    • Ministeras Minister
    Rose Marie Perfect
    • Store Owneras Store Owner
    Macklen Makhloghi
    Macklen Makhloghi
    • Drunken Teenas Drunken Teen
    • (as Macklen Makhlogi)
    Sean Flood
    • Teen's Friendas Teen's Friend
    • Director
      • Michael Burke
    • Writer
      • Michael Burke
    • All cast & crew
    • See more cast details at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

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    Did you know

    Edit
    • 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

      Duncan Mudge: [to Perry] Do you ever think about kissing me?

    • Connections
      References The Magilla Gorilla Show (1964)

    User reviews33

    Review
    Top review
    An unusual boy
    The Mudge Boy is about teenage sexuality in a rural setting. It reeks of Inde: the opening shots of somebody chased off a road even seem clipped from The Station Agent. However, its mix of B horror movie baddies and sensitive mama's boy, if never resolved, still is different from either set of formulas. A fine performance by Emile Hirsh as the `boy,' Duncan Mudge, is sufficient reason to watch this movie and make it stick in the mind. It's a neat trick Hirsh carries off to make his character come across as weird, but also nice, nice looking, and sociable. The young actor has a quality River Phoenix also notably had of being able to seem two places at once and uncomfortable (but smooth) at both – ingratiating, yet disgusted; or humiliated, yet pleased. It's quite a complex and able performance and one hopes it heralds more good things to come from Hirsh, who also starred in The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys.

    Duncan, who's about sixteen, misses his recently deceased mom, to whom he was unusually close. He shows their closeness now by liking to wear her clothes on the sly at home. Duncan tends the chickens while his father does the heavier farm work alone. The boy goes everywhere with his mom's favorite white chicken, which he calms by putting its head in his mouth (now that's what I call acting!). Is he gay or is he just an unusual boy? He hasn't developed quite enough for there to be a definitive anwer to that question by the end of this pleasingly quirky film. The Mudge Boy isn't about that well-worked theme, coming of age, but about trying to remain oneself. It's certain that Duncan isn't your standard husky farm boy.

    The bunch of young heavy metal guys (with gals) in their pickup truck, who approach periodically with B-movie menace, aren't all so macho themselves. One is pretty and longhaired. Another one, Perry (Tom Guiry), Duncan is kind of sweet on and Perry, who talks so dirty and goes after the girls, still by silent consent is Duncan's best buddy. The experienced child actor Guiry (who was Brendan Harris in Mystic River) strikes a neat balance between macho strutting (which involves some extremely blunt, graphic sexual language even by current standards) and an insecurity that makes sense when we learn his dad is abusive. Duncan's own dad is shut down but also needy in the absence of his wife and affectionate enough toward his son to disapprove but marginally tolerate his peculiarities.

    Though The Mudge Boy may wind up being classified as some kind of gay coming of age movie, this isn't an environment in which a "coming out" process is possible or even desirable. First of all Duncan may be odd but never seems innocent. Nothing about Perry surprises him and he seems to have no awakening to come to or audience to share it with. If he's gay, which isn't quite a sure thing yet, who is he going to dramatically come out to? Perry knows Duncan's proclivities and exploits them in a brutal `loss of virginity' sequence, but maybe Duncan is just special. It's the movie's ambiguity that makes it unique -- though some scenes, such as Duncan's off-key solo at church, are too clumsy and indeterminate to make sense.

    The trouble is that the movie never seems to know too well where it's going and its pacing drowns in rural torpor. The stakes aren't defined: it's never clear if it's Duncan himself who's in danger or just his pet chicken, and the writing doesn't provide enough of a progression toward anything other than the consensual rape scene and a final moment of tenderness between father and son. When Duncan tells Perry in front of the other truck crew `I'm not a faggot!,' is that just because the word is derogatory or is he really not gay and aware of that? Nothing has been resolved, but we've been taken to an interesting, uncommon place.
    helpful•12
    4
    • Chris Knipp
    • Jul 20, 2004

    Details

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    • Release date
      • January 17, 2003 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Маџово одрастање
    • Filming locations
      • Rutland, Vermont, USA
    • Production companies
      • First Cold Press Productions
      • Showtime Pictures
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

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    • Budget
      • $800,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $62,852
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $11,102
      • May 9, 2004
    • Gross worldwide
      • $62,852
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • Runtime
      1 hour 34 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital

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