Very well executed

Absolutely brilliant

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

Simply, this film is a little known gem of LGBT cinema. The performances are sublime: Emile Hirsch and Tom Guiry playing their roles as realistically and movingly (with the specific characteristics of their role) who manage to make this film an emotional journey that will get more than one reflect on the plight which still face many gay guys around the world. This reflection is another strong point of the film: the rawness that emulates perfectly fine as reality, gives great value to the script and the direction. The photography is excellent, beautiful. But forget about production resources. The script, Duncan's story is a case that can even be a real case of our neighbor. Very well filmed, with a poignant script and first-rate performances, this film is highly recommended as vindicating the LGBT genre.

Having grown up in New York State, my "coming of age" and "out of the closet" was quite an experience. While my experience wasn't necessarily an easy one, after seeing this movie, it angers me to think that there are other gay men (and women) who are (or have) had to endure the pain, bigotry and humiliation that the main character did. This movie gave me a completely new perspective on how society has been a complete and utter failure to so many people. I wish I had the resources to help out everyone in need who is going through what "Duncan" is/has gone through. Life wasn't meant to be so painful, lonely and empty - and after watching this flick, I have no idea how the "Heartland" got its name... These so called "Church going" bigots and "good old boys" are more of an abomination than any of the worst sins that I can think of, and some day these bottom feeders will face their maker, for the hell they put so many innocent people through.Truly a heartbreaking film that will open your eyes, and one that you will never forget.

.................is Falling, The Sky is Falling" (on the director's head, we can only hope)The synopses ((synopsis?........oasis.....oases.......you say tomato, I say to-mah-to.......you say banana, I say ba-nah-na........oh, never mind, please excuse the foolishness)) of two or three of the reviewers already here are just topnotch. I can add nothing much to them, but would like to stick in the following few observations for your consideration.Only 3 actors are really deserving of truly big acknowledgment in this film (Hirsch for Duncan, Guiry for Perry and Jenkins for "Chicken Boy's" Dad (who IS distant, as described by one reviewer, but certainly not emotionless, as described by another, for he gives us at film's end an unexpected and utterly amazing emotional moment). Oh, wait, there is also the sweet teen-girl (Handerhan's Tonya) who becomes "Chicken Boy's" benefactress/protectress during the film. Well, gee, stupid me, slow down, almost completely forgot there is, indeed, a fifth notable character--"Chicken," the little lady who gives her all (and more) to the making of this film. We've been given a couple of very brave young stars (respectively, about 17 and 21 years at time of filming). Not every rising young actor, particularly one with the level of sensitivity displayed by Hirsch, and also Guiry (under a 'tough guy' veneer), is going to accept a role which requires him to give fellatio, or play the part of the one forcing it. Even more difficult might be agreeing to play a character who is going to be so obviously "taking it up the bum" or, again, play the part of the one forcing it (sorry for the unintended play on words). To compound the difficulty, not only must a young Hirsch, playing Duncan, face his screen Dad following such behavior, but a young Hirsch playing this scene must also face his real-life Father, who, according to the director's DVD commentary, accompanied Emile on his casting call (and, I would suspect, due to young age, to the shooting as well). What a great open and understanding relationship we must have between these two, eh? To close out my thoughts, the following is a must-mention.Beyond stunned(!) has to be this reviewer's reaction to a statement made by the director (dare I even afford him that title----notice the small 'd') in his voice-over commentary as the DVD plays out. It's in a near-end-of-film scene at which we find our young teens, well after dark, huddled in an old truck cab. Duncan, in the very depths of his despair, at his very lowest emotional level to this point in the film, has made his way to Perry's house and awakened him in an effort to find even some slight display of comfort and affection. The scene that plays out is the film's most emotional to that point (the earlier barn rape being the most shocking). Yet, astoundingly, rather than discuss the emotional difficulties likely faced by both young actors in playing out this difficult scene and how he might have facilitated their doing so, the director, instead, spends the entire time commenting over and over why the scene was (apparently) shot in black and white. If possible, even more thoughtless are words he then utters, quoted here pretty much verbatim: "What we were going for....to sort of undercut the, uh, you know, uh, mushy love story, you know, part of it, to make a real coolness that, you know, uh, to give the scene this other sort of color......" Being, I hope, an empathetic viewer, I was just floored. I can't imagine how hard it must be for an actor to have gone through what Hirsch apparently did to reach the point of shyly and almost inaudibly asking Perry: "Did ya ever think about kissing me?" Then, to later learn, in viewing the DVD, that your director's apparent take on the scene was that it's "mushy." OH, MY!PS--And, no, I haven't "mis-adjectivized" the scenes mentioned so far ('most shocking'......'most emotional'). But what, you ask, of that next-to-last-scene between Duncan and his tormentors? Ah, say I, that one has to be labeled the 'most sad' (for it tells us of our treatment of one another). And what about the movie's final scene, you query? Well, the 'most uplifting', of course.PPS--Well, can't stay mad forever. Thank you, Mr. Director, for giving us a very well written and well-brought-to-the-screen production.****

I just watched "Fishbelly White" about two weeks after I first saw "The Mudge Boy." I was surprised to see that "Fishbelly" is a shorter, earlier version of "Mudge Boy" (kinda like "Some Folks Call It a Sling Blade" and "Sling Blade"); some scenes are almost identical, but the shorter version is, of course, less fleshed-out and less detailed. For example, neither boy's father plays any significant role.Unlike the shorter "Sling Blade," though, "Fishbelly" does tell the whole story.I think Emile Hirsch in "Mudge" made a better "Chicken Boy" than Jason Hayes in "Fishbelly", but just because he's less "geeky" and therefore, to me, more heartbreaking in the end. "Mudge Boy" is all the more tragic because Duncan at first thinks he's been accepted by the other, older kids._________________________________________As for "Mudge Boy" being about Duncan's gay issues, I think that's wishful thinking and way off the mark. As far as we can tell, Duncan's most meaningful relationship---emotional as well as physical--- has been with a chicken. It would not be unusual for ANY adolescent who is so alienated to want to touch or kiss any person, regardless of sex. I don't think this is a "gay" film, as so many people have categorized it.Interestingly, I used to work with an emotionally starved 15-year-old boy from Vermont (location of this film) who loved his chicken Robert; we'll call the boy Tom. The other boys in the program mocked Tom, because Robert seemed to be his best friend. However, Robert's head never ended up in Tom's mouth (as far as I know).