with an insipid script, no narrative line, and a cast of unlikable characters, Mute has to get by on looks --neon Cold War hand-me-downs with all the workmanship of journeyman TV
though undeniably dazzling in the visual department, 'Moon' director Duncan Jones' gimmicky future noir has nothing interesting to say; an over-designed but otherwise uninspired slice of sci-fi noir
says less than it wants to; The narrative doesn't quite coalesce, and except for a few moments late in the proceedings, it doesn't deliver the grim, indelible shivers of the best noir
Mute is so slow and arbitrarily over-plotted that it's difficult to believe that Jones also directed the spry and enjoyable Moon and Source Code; It's narrative is a self-consciously odd and stillborn mix of missing-person mystery and rehabilitation
"Mute" is ludicrous, but within the confines of its referential logic, also pretty cool; Jones is clearly striving to develop something fresh out of well-trodden material, and Mute at least provides a few reminders that Jones is a notable genre director
"Mute" is an object lesson in the need for self-editing in narrative fiction of any stripe. By trying to do everything, the film ends up saying next to nothing
by Charles Bramesco [The Guardian ]
by Chuck Bowen [Slant Magazine ]
