Mustang Island (2017) User Reviews

Stripped Down Brevity At Its Best

[budanome · 7/10 · 17 October 2019]

"Say Something!" yells the ex-girlfriend. Her character seems to be both the antagonist in and the critic of this funny, character driven, camera angled film.

See it more than once, and most will appreciate the effort spent creating Mustang Island. I liked how the monogram key chains in the souvenir shop we're arranged to spell something of artistic importance.

Local color (black and white)

[davo · 6/10 · 16 February 2018]

Some reviewers have likened this film to the work of Jim Jarmusch, and I can see that to a degree, specifically his early black and white films that featured trios of fairly deadpan characters. The humor in Mustang Island is not as dry as in the Jarmusch films, and here the protagonist is explicitly lovelorn. The tracking shots to hip music as the characters arrive at the island reminded me of the scenes of driving around New Orleans in Down By Law. And there my comparisons end!

I thought the Mustang Island locations were great, and I thought the cinematography was pretty good, particularly the night shots. The amusement park in the background in a few shots was particularly evocative. I really liked that a lot of scenes unfolded without dialog, though there were some rather funny lines in the script, which I didn't write down, so no spoilers here! The interactions among the characters seemed realistic to me, with appropriate awkwardness.

I liked this film, though my rating may not seem so high -- I don't believe I've ever given a 10 here, and my 9s are not so common. I look forward to seeing more films by Craig Elrod.

Hence my familiarity...

[RosanaBotafogo · 7/10 · 14 January 2023]

After he is dumped on New Year's Eve, Bill and his friends drive to a seaside town to win her back. After their relationship breaks up on New Year's Eve, Bill follows his ex-girlfriend to a town on the Gulf Coast, but things get complicated.

Boring and tedious, but it represents me and my "abigos" well, going after a love that already gave his foot in the ass a long time ago, and he's still crawling... The black and white film delivers an atmosphere of "Rome" despite being later, 2018, the humor is cold, almost non-existent, in the nuances, and in silly moments, of extreme disarray, hence my familiarity...

Dull

[juliec-74395 · 2/10 · 13 January 2022]

Dull , hopeless, bland.... Good movie to run in the background while you are picking your feet.... this review is not worth me spending my time to contain at least 150 characters..... did I hit it yet?

A quiet gem that satisfies

[jazellers · 9/10 · 29 January 2018]

An off-beat, slow paced, beguiling film that left me not only satisfied, but with a desire to watch it again - which I did. Beautifully filmed in black and white, some scenes will remain in my mind for a long time. This film does not rely and spectacular, over the top visuals, nor ear-splitting crashes, but upon well crafted visuals that say more with less. The acting is superb with unforgettable characters.

Bad, boring, awful

[pgfog-21014 · 1/10 · 23 December 2021]

A film about totally uninteresting people doing uninteresting things climaxing in who knows what. It is described as a comedy. The humor is beyond subtle.

Touching dramedy - quirky and fun, but with depth

[brandon-97572 · 10/10 · 17 April 2017]

Heard good things about this independent film through some friends in Austin. Since it was showing a block from my new home in Dallas I figured why not check it out.

Wow! What a pleasant surprise. While it may take a little time to build in the beginning, the character development is worth it... love the stylistic black and white as it gives you a new perspective on watching those who are going through many of the same life's emotion we all have to deal with.

Anyway, it was enough to get me to write a first review here (not my last for sure). Directing was great... just enough style without being off putting. Characters were exceptional, as they spoke more through silence than dialogue, a lost art in today's world. While the acting was good or great even, across the board, special mention to the character Lee. Exceptional. Understated with depth and emotion. A fantastic performance!

Auteurs, photography buffs and film geeks, it's worth it.

[NobodysFool · 8/10 · 10 May 2022]

Honestly, I'm only 21:00 min deep, but l'm blown away by the DP.

Movies are like food, beverage, music: you find it palatable or don't, depending on your taste buds. It's a pleasure for me to stumble upon a beautifully filmed piece as this. I give it an 8, as the story isn't stellar, the plot trivial, but the cinamatography pulls on its bootstraps and I find myself pausing just to observe the shots. I'm currently annoying a friend sending him screne grabs: "Look at that framing. Notice the edge of the house and balcony create ANOTHER perfect triangle to the backdrop. Even the watertower is rectangular and falls into the rule of thirds."

I'm sensing th DP iintentionally focusing on lines, rectangles, squares. During the initial road trip to the island: the pickup and the shadow trailing; the fence posts; the stilts on houses. Then the waterway. Like greek columns rising. Even the palm trees provide rectangular symmetry. The concave building with square windows. At the beach house, the kitchen cabinets, starcase, vents, panelling. All these were thoughtfully chosen.

Upstairs bedroom: bunkbed, vents, blinds, staircase railing. It's obvious the DP was viewing Galveston through the eyes of rectangular symmetry. Although the film from a storytelling standpoint isn't a masterpiece, the visuals make it a gem on my list.

Don't get me wrong, the humor is there, the acting is fine; it's simply a matter of the visuals overarching the story, in IMO. With that said, the story itself is not a pass. You can still enjoy the story without creaming over the visuals.

Bottom line, if you're into cinamatography, don't pass on it. Folks giving it one star are not fans of the visual nor slow storytelling. Hat off to the DP. Good on you.

I wish I had the chops and heart to write like this

[kali-84034 · 10/10 · 16 July 2022]

Real people, real feelings, real kinda resolution. Whoever wrote and created this movie never once stepped back from their respect for their characters; never made a joke at the characters' expense; never caricatured them. I cared for the main players. And the teen-age wahoos were perfect - absolutely heartless and dumb. Thanks for pushing me to go back to working on my new novel. That's the highest praise I can give.