Hud

Since this film is quite old, its impact is somewhat less shocking. Paul Newman plays a smoking, drinking bad guy who makes an impression as a womanizing cad. The real star of the movie is Brandon De Wilde as his nephew Lonnie. Brandon was an excellent actor who unfortunately died very early in his career. The movie is a must see just for Brandon.

One of the best more modern Western. Gritty, dirty and harsh. Hud is a bad man and there's no polishing him into anything nicer. Ends poetically and the drama in between seems to always teeter on the brink of personal self destruction before boiling over at one uneasy point. Watched on DVD.

One of the greatest American movies.

Martin Ritt has a spotty record as a director. He never is able to start a picture well, dwelling on long shots of empty roads, rivers, or landscape. In the case, however, this approach works as the film explores a character without no redeeming graces. Hud violates every principle of common behavior, lying, cheating, stealing, raping and draft dodging (the final straw to Lonnie's break with him). Paul Newman's performance is perfect, making this odious person attractive. He drives off everyone. James Wong Howe's cinematography is not only excellent, it is glorious, winning him an well-deserved Oscar. I would go so far as to say that this is Ritt's only great film.

a disturbing story that feels like a lead up to cool hand luke

The movie takes about an hour to really get into motion and once it does its just great.

An incredibly effective coming-of-age story that, contrary to the title, focuses not on Hud but on his nephew. The moral dilemma of choosing to be like his honorable, scrupulous, hardworking grandfather or choosing to be like his opportunistic, hedonistic, self-serving uncle is the bedrock of Lonnie's story. You feel the alluring pull of Hud's lifestyle, bolstered by the hallmark charisma of Paul Newman. A highlight of this film is the question of how to deal with cattle potentially affected with mad cow disease. It culminates in a heartwrenching sequence that truly allows the gorgeous black-and-white cinematography to shine. It's also critical to highlight Patricia Neal, who plays the housekeeper Alma. She is absolutely magnetic in this role. Every movement, every word, and every look is infectiously natural. The life she imbues the story and the tragedy of her character are real stand-outs in a film already chock-full of amazing elements. She's the temptation to give this a full five.

Possible Spoilers Hud is a good film. Not only does Paul Newman give a good performance, but so does the supporting cast. Either you will get into the story or you won't. I thought this was much better than similar films like The Last Picture Show. The only things I didn't like was the lack of a good soundtrack and the unrealistic way the characters reacted to the old man dying (and the convenient and somewhat cheesy way it happened). Outside of that, good film!!!

Seeing the varying interpretations of Hud as a character really is interesting; some consider him a modern interpretation of the loner cowboy individualist whose blunt forthrightness makes him an admirable individualist, while to others he's just an asshole. While Hud may be viewed as just another take on the rebellious loner archetype (but in a neo-Western setting), the film is more complex than that. A surprisingly dark take on life's changes and mortality, Hud reconsiders the independent-minded lead in the context of a greater community and a full lifetime rather than in a traditional episodic Western context. Newman's Hud is outwardly charming but self-serving, abrasive, unrepentant, and willing to put others at risk for his own benefit. These traits lead him to be ostracized by those who know him and make him anything but sympathetic, even if there is some understanding in how the cold lifestyle that his family lives could have made him this way. Beautifully shot by Howe and well-acted, Hud is still solid viewing if intermittently somewhat confused as to its objective meaning. (4/5)

Of its time, well photographed and giving a glimpse of the hard life in the Texan panhandle. HUD would've seemed a reprobate to my parents generation . My father b 1922 mother b 1926. But sixties generation (me) were accepting a more selfish, self determined and hedonistic way of life compared to my father and mother, and HUD was an antihero popular like James Dean and Elvis. So the film probably has a different feeling depending on what your moral values are. But it's good, superbly acted, not much of a plot though.