Hud Bannon is a ruthless young man who tarnishes everything and everyone he touches. Hud represents the perfect embodiment of alienated youth, out for kicks with no regard for the consequences. There is bitter conflict between the callous Hud and his stern and highly principled father, Homer. Hud's nephew Lon admires Hud's cheating ways, though he soon becomes too aware of Hud's reckless amorality to bear him anymore. In the world of the takers and the taken, Hud is a winner. He's a cheat, but, he explains, "I always say the law was meant to be interpreted in a lenient manner."
The four principal actors -- Newman, Neal, Douglas, and de Wilde -- are so good that they might well form the nucleus of a cinematic repertory company.
– ,
TIME Magazine,
1 Oct 2008
rotten:
Martin Ritt directed, putting a little too much dust in the dust bowl for my taste.
– Dave Kehr,
Chicago Reader,
1 Jan 2000
rotten:
One of Ritt's best films.
– Tom Milne,
Time Out,
24 Jun 2006
rotten:
Where it falls short of the mark is in its failure to filter its meaning and theme lucidly through its characters and story.