Mute

Plot

As a child in an amish family, Leo was severely injured in an accident that left him without the ability to talk. Now an adult, he lives in Berlin – in a futuristic noir like world. He works at a bar owned by mobster Maksim, and is dating Naadira.

One day Naadira goes missing, and Leo runs afoul of Maksim getting himself fired in the process of the beginning of his search. As it grows, he comes on the radar of Cactus Bill, one of Maksim’s hitmen – who might know more than he’s letting on.

Direction

Directed by Duncan Jones (son of the late David Bowie), it shows both a futuristic world – but also has a noir like feel to it at the same time. I felt the settings/and set designs were done well – and added to the narrative of the film – especially given to some of the characteristics of the lead character.

Cast/Characters   

Alexander Skarsgård plays Leo, who for 110 minutes of the 120 movie is a mute. He is convincing in his role, and his use of non verbal comunnicaiton works well. His physical presence is intimidating at times – but he contrasts that with a sweet smile that he directs to those who deserve it. Being formerly Amish – he is a technophobe – and struggles with modern technology.

Paul Rudd plays Cactus Bill, and gets to include his personality into the character quite a bit. I really liked the character, especially his interactins with his partner Duck, as some of their moments were quite intense. II think he struggled with some of the complexity of the menace that he was.

Justin Theroux plays Duck, Bill’s best friend. He is the secondary antagonist in the film – and gets quite a bit to do in the last 20m of the film. I wished they extended certain parts of his ‘persona’ and that his arc ended differently.

Screenplay/Setting/Themes

With the primary character one that cannot speak, the screenplay worked very well.

There is also quite a bit of the film in German as the film is set there. With these two variables, the screenplay was a strong point to the film.

I was taken aback that this was a ‘sequel’ to Moon, director Jones’ previous film – and there are some hidden references to his late dad in the screenplay too.

The third act ‘twist’ comes out of nowhere, and written oddly. It then changes a relitively interesting character into something completely different.

The last act fell apart a bit – especially after the ‘deaths’ in the basement. The following moments were poorly done – and I didn’t really go for it.

Score/Soundtrack

Clint Mansell adds a brilliant score; he previously worked with Jones on Moon. I really enjoyed the futuristic and techy overtunes – but loved the soft/subltle moments between Leo and Naaridah.

Overall

I was hoping to really enjoy this, but was a little let down by certain aspects – like the third act which is a let down to me. I was hoping Rudd was going to give a better turn of villain – but it seems like he was either held back from going the next step, or he was unable to get there professionally.

While far from a bad film, I wouldn’t watch this again.

3/5