• Home
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • Lists
    • Yearly Top Tens
    • Trailers
    • Contact
    • Hire Me
    • About
Menu

World of Reel

Street Address
City, State, Zip
Phone Number
Home
IMG_4846.jpg
A24 Lands Dev Patel’s ‘The Peasant’ in $30M Deal
IMG_5161.jpg
Mikey Madison Lands First Post-Oscar Role in ‘Reptilia’
IMG_5160.jpg
Chad Stahelski’s ‘Highlander’ Reboot to Shoot in September
IMG_5158.jpg
Disney Re-Releasing ‘Snow White’ in 1200+ Screens This Weekend
IMG_5156.jpg
Box-Office: ‘Thunderbolts' and ‘Sinners' to Battle for #1 This Weekend
Featured
Capture.PNG
Aug 19, 2019
3-Hour ‘Midsommar' Director's Cut Screened in NYC
Aug 19, 2019

This year’s 12th edition of the Scary Movies festival at Film at Lincoln Center premiered Ari Aster’s extended version of “Midsommar” this past Saturday.

Aug 19, 2019

World of Reel

  • Home
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • Lists
  • More
    • Yearly Top Tens
    • Trailers
  • About
    • Contact
    • Hire Me
    • About

‘The Mustang' Review: Familiar Story Somehow Works Due to Lead Performance and Direction

March 21, 2019 Jordan Ruimy

I have to admit that at first, I resisted the first half of director and co-writer Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre’s “The Mustang” — its on-the-nose social message and familiar narrative felt all-too obvious to this film snob. After all, this is a movie about, gulp, wild men taming wild animals, and truth be told, in lesser hands, this film would have crash landed with a thud instead of actually picking up steam as it goes along. Kudos to not just its talented writer-director, but also French/German actor Matthias Schoenaerts. He stars as Roman, a man haunted by a past in which, in a fit of unadulterated rage, he punched his wife, mentally incapacitating her after her head hit the kitchen sink — this resulted in his being sentenced to 12 years in prison. It’s not like he protested his sentence either; when the parole board asks for his case to be defended, he refuses to abide, feeling all-too guilty for what transpired and for the heartache he caused his daughter, who still visits Daddy but mostly for him to sign forms and releases. Things do change when Roman enrolls in the prison’s horse-training program, and — surprise — makes an emotional connection with a stallion. Of course, Roman hits it off with the most difficult mustang of the bunch, one whose bouts of instantaneous rage are unlike Roman’s. Bruce Dern is also well-cast as Myles, the horse program's grizzled director. The obvious metaphors turn out to be irrelevant as Clermont-Tonnerre slowly, but surely, finds a grip in her story and envelops you with gorgeously lit frames and the grim realities of prison life — you can almost smell the stench of the prison: its stained toilets, concrete walls and the toxic macho posturing all around the corridors. What feels rather murky and uninvolving at first is elevated by a central performance and a director who knows a thing or two about atmosphere. The story may seem ridiculous but by the final frame you’ll be converted. [B-]

In REVIEWS Tags The Mustang, Review, Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre, Matthias Schoenarts, mvie
← Julianne Moore Was Fired From ‘Can You Ever Forgive Me?’ Because She Wanted to Wear Fat Suit‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ to be released in China with homosexual content completely edited out →

FOLLOW US!


Trending

Featured
IMG_4571.jpg
David Fincher & Brad Pitt Reunite for ‘The Continuing Adventures of Cliff Booth' + Plot Details
IMG_4549.png
Warners Bros. Chief Admits Missteps on ‘Joker: Folie à Deux’: “We Misread the Room”
IMG_4541.jpg
Scorsese’s Next Film? Hawaiian Mob Epic With Dwayne Johnson Eyes 2026 Shoot
Capture.png
Jim Caviezel to be De-Aged in ‘The Resurrection of the Christ'
IMG_4465.png
Harmony Korine Says Hollywood Struggling Because “Movies Suck Today”

Critics Polls

Featured
Capture.PNG
Critics Poll: ‘Vertigo’ Named Best Film of the 1950s, Over 120 Participants
B16BAC21-5652-44F6-9E83-A1A5C5DF61D7.jpeg
Critics Poll: Kubrick’s ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ Tops Our 1960s Critics Poll
Capture.PNG
Critics Poll: ‘The Godfather’ Named Best Movie of the 1970s
public.jpeg
Critics Poll: ‘Do the Right Thing' Named Best Movie of the 1980s
Critics Poll: ‘Mulholland Drive' Named Best Film of the 2000s
g4.jpg
Critics' Poll: ‘Goodfellas' Named Best Movie of the 1990s
Critics Poll: ‘Mad Max: Fury Road' Named Best Movie of the 2010s
World of Reel tagline.PNG
 

Content

Contribute

Hire me

 

Support

Advertise

Donate

 

About

Team

Contact

Privacy Policy

Site designed by Jordan Ruimy © 2023