''The Mudge Boy'' is a 2003 American

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by Michael Burke, based on Burke's 1998 short film ''Fishbelly White'' which was featured in the compilation ''Boys Life 5''. It stars

Emile Hirsch Emile Davenport Hirsch (born March 13, 1985) is an American actor. He played Chris McCandless in '' Into the Wild'' (2007). Other notable film roles include '' The Girl Next Door'' (2004), ''Lords of Dogtown'' (2005), '' Alpha Dog'' (2006), ''Sp ...

Tom Guiry Thomas John Guiry (born October 12, 1981) is an American actor. He is best known for his lead performance as Scott Smalls in the cult coming-of-age film '' The Sandlot,'' which he held at the age of 12, and his role in NBC crime drama ''The Black ...

, and

Richard Jenkins Richard Dale Jenkins (born May 4, 1947) is an American actor who is well known for his portrayal of deceased patriarch Nathaniel Fisher on the HBO funeral drama series '' Six Feet Under'' (2001–2005). He began his career in theater at the Tri ...

. It was produced by Elizabeth W. Alexander and distributed by

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...

after its release at the

2003 Sundance Film Festival The 2003 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 16 to January 26, 2003. ''American Splendor'', a biopic of comic-book author Harvey Pekar, won the grand-jury prize. Steve Zahn and Maggie Gyllenhaal presented the awards in a ceremony tele ...

Plot

In the past, the mother of Duncan Mudge dies from a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

while riding her bike. In the current day, Duncan works with his grieving father Edgar on their poultry farm, where Duncan has developed a bond with most of the chickens. His relationship with his father has been split due to his father's depression. While riding his bike with one of the chickens on a rural path, he stops to pet a cow belonging to Perry Foley, whom he engages in a conversation with. The next day, at church, Duncan interrupts Perry having sex in the bathroom with a girl named Tonya. Perry and his friends later arrive at a convenience store, where Duncan is refilling his tires. Tonya is with the group and comforts Duncan over his mother; she invites Duncan to go with them. Later, in Duncan's barn, Perry tells Duncan of one of his sexual encounters. Duncan visits Perry again, who has a cut on his lip from his abusive father. Perry takes him swimming in a lake below a support bridge. Duncan begins to have feelings for Perry. Back at the farm, Perry asks about Duncan's parents and speaks about his lack of a role model growing up. Duncan then shows Perry how his mother taught him to soothe a chicken by putting its head into his mouth. Perry shames him for it, then goes home. Duncan later goes with Perry's friends to an outdoor party and finds Perry receiving fellatio from April. After the party, they examine his mother's belongings in the barn. Perry convinces him to put on his mother's wedding dress as a joke, which he does reluctantly. He then forces Duncan to fellate him, before he

rapes Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, Abusive power and control, ...

him. Duncan's father catches him in the dress alongside Perry and is disgusted. In the morning, Duncan stops digging a plot and is reprimanded by his father. His father resorts to burning his wife's belongings. At night, Duncan meets Perry in a

tractor A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or construction. Most common ...

where Perry says they should not be friends. Duncan asks if he has thought about kissing him before Perry does so. Duncan kisses him again, while Perry tells him to stay away. At the convenience store, Perry and his friends steal Duncan's chicken and taunt him. Perry gives it back to Duncan and tells him to put the chicken's head in his mouth. While being tormented for doing so, Duncan bites off the chicken's head. His father later sees him arrive with the dead chicken, and responds by hugging him as Duncan breaks down in tears.

Cast

as Duncan Mudge *

as Perry Foley *

as Edgar Mudge *

Pablo Schreiber Pablo Tell Schreiber (born April 26, 1978) is a Canadian-American actor. He is best known for his stage work and for portraying Nick Sobotka on ''The Wire'' (2003), William Lewis on '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' (2013–2014), Mad Swe ...

as Brent *

Zachary Knighton Zachary Andrew Knighton (born October 25, 1978) is an American actor, most widely known for starring as Dave Rose on the ABC comedy series '' Happy Endings''. Prior to that, he co-starred as Dr. Bryce Varley on ABC's science fiction series '' Fla ...

as Travis *

Ryan Donowho Ryan Wayne Donowho (born September 20, 1980) is an American actor and musician. Early life Born and raised in Houston, Texas, Donowho appeared as an uncredited extra in "Varsity Blues (film)", a film shot in his home state of Texas. Donowho mov ...

as Scotty * Meredith Handerhan as Tonya * Beckie King as April

Release

On January 17, 2003, ''The Mudge Boy''

premiere A première, also spelled premiere, is the debut (first public presentation) of a play, film, dance, or musical composition. A work will often have many premières: a world première (the first time it is shown anywhere in the world), its first ...

d at the

and in 2003 and 2004 it made the rounds at several gay and lesbian and independent film festivals around the United States. The region 1 DVD was released on May 9, 2006.

Critical reception

The film received generally positive reviews from critics; review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

reports that 77% out of 26 professional critics gave the film a positive review.

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

from the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...

'' called it "odd and intense, very well acted, and impossible to dismiss." Lisa Rose from ''

The Star-Ledger ''The Star-Ledger'' is the largest circulated newspaper in the U.S. state of New Jersey and is based in Newark. It is a sister paper to ''The Jersey Journal'' of Jersey City, ''The Times'' of Trenton and the '' Staten Island Advance'', all of wh ...

'' said about it that "It's not an easy film to watch, but it is a memorable one."The Mudge Boy - Star-Ledger Review
/ref>

Awards

''The Mudge Boy'' was nominated for a

GLAAD Media Award The GLAAD Media Award is an accolade bestowed by GLAAD to recognize and honor various branches of the media for their outstanding representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community and the issues that affect their live ...

and the Grand Jury Prize at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...

. It won a Grand Jury Award LA

Outfest Outfest is an LGBTQ-oriented nonprofit that produces two film festivals, operates a movie streaming platform, and runs educational services for filmmakers in Los Angeles. Outfest is one of the key partners, alongside the Frameline Film Festival ...

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mudge Boy, The 2003 films 2003 drama films 2003 independent films 2003 LGBT-related films 2000s teen drama films American independent films American teen drama films American teen LGBT-related films Features based on short films Films about farmers Films scored by Marcelo Zarvos Films shot in Vermont Films set on farms LGBT-related drama films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films