Hud

Directed by Martin Ritt, Hud follows Paul Newman’s far-from-kind title character as he butts heads with virtually everyone around him – including his exasperated father (Melvyn Douglas’ Homer), wide-eyed nephew (Brandon de Wilde’s Lonnie), and even-tempered housekeeper (Patricia Neal’s Alma). Filmmaker Ritt, working from Irving Ravetch and Harriet Frank Jr.’s screenplay, delivers an exceedingly (and often excessively) deliberate character study that benefits substantially from its raft of engrossing performances, as Newman’s completely captivating work as the often impressively unlikable protagonist is matched, to put it mildly, by his various costars – with Douglas, de Wilde, and Neal effectively inhabiting their respective characters to a striking, commanding degree. It’s clear, too, that Hud‘s mostly watchable atmosphere is perpetuated by James Wong Howe’s stark cinematography and a second half rife with gripping, tense sequences (eg Hud learns why his father has hated him for so long, Hud attacks Alma, etc), and yet there’s little doubt that the continuing emphasis on distasteful animal-related sequences slowly-but-surely wreaks havoc on the movie’s momentum and overall impact. (This is particularly true of a thoroughly unpleasant stretch towards the end detailing the killing of Homer’s entire herd of cows.) The final result is an erratic endeavor that succeeds most keenly as a showcase for its uniformly superb performances, which is a shame, ultimately, given the overt promise of the picture’s slow yet compelling first act.

**1/2 out of ****