In introductory writing courses, creative writing students are often told a first draft is a playground. All that matters is you push towards the end. Have a new idea that would be amazing? Don’t go back to the beginning and work it in, just throw it in and worry about how it got there in the second draft. A writer’s eyes should always be on the finish line in that first draft.
The new Netflix film “Mute” feels like a first draft that took the above advice to heart but decided there was no need for revision.
“Mute” follows Leo (Alexander Skarsgård), a mute Amish man living in a futuristic Berlin that wants to be “Blade Runner.” When his girlfriend goes missing he begins a quest to find her and it’s oh so very boring.
One of the central problems with “Mute” right off the bat is that we never really know the protagonist. A big part of that is because he is mute. We know why he can’t speak. We know he comes from an Amish upbringing. We can infer his distrust of technology comes from how he was raised. So does his talent at wood carving. But how did Leo come to work in a high end strip club? Why is he dating one of the women from the club? And if he dislikes technology why is he living in the city when we see that the country is devoid of digital gadgets? As a writer and director Jones is unable to answer these questions or allow Skarsgard to tell us anything about Leo through actual acting. All Leo does is point to a picture of his missing girlfriend. And we know less about the girlfriend than we do Leo.
And then there is Paul Rudd’s Cactus Bill. Rudd exudes charisma at all times and not even ‘Mute’ can diminish that ability. Cactus Bill is a dirt bag U.S. field medic who has gone AWOL and wants passports so he and his young daughter can leave Germany (why is this movie even set in Germany?). Cactus hangs out with a pedophile surgeon (played by Justin Theroux) because that’d what you do when you’re a father of young daughter. They put their skills to work performing underground surgery on criminals. Rudd does deliver the film’s finest moment with an obnoxious display at a small café which will have some recalling a similar dining outburst from “Wet Hot American Summer.” When Cactus and Duck are around at least something is happening onscreen. I’m not sure why, exactly. But they are at least doing more than pointing at a photo.
Leo’s and Cactus Bill’s disparate story lines eventually merge, but the coming together and the result is as unsatisfying as the rest of the film.
“Mute” is just a muddled mess. It’s bad storytelling from almost the very beginning. There are too many random elements that are forced to fit and none of them are interesting. It’s discouraging to see such a mess from any writer/ director that is four films deep into a career.
With this kind of effort there really is no reason for you to watch the movie. Save yourself two hours of boredom. Watch a “Blade Runner” film. Watch a classic 1940’s noir film. Give your time to a work that deserves it.
“Mute” is streaming on Netflix.