Dir. Jeff Nichols
131 Minutes
Rated PG-13
MUD. Despite having a title that will put general audiences off, Mud is the third feature film from director Jeff Nichols, who continues his string of low budget, deliberately paced Southern dramas with this little number that got a lot of buzz coming out of the Cannes Film Festival. The eternally hunky Matthew McConaughey is also continuing his lucky streak from films like Magic Mike, Killer Joe, and Bernie with another incredible performance that I believe tops all those previous films. The plot follows these two boys, Ellis and Neckbone (Tye Sheridan and Jacob Lofland), who find an odd man named Mud (McConaughey) hiding in the woods, living in a boat lodged up high in a tree. They develop a curious relationship with Mud and become friends. But bounty hunters are on the lookout for him because he killed a man - a man that beat his girl, Juniper (Reese Witherspoon), while pregnant with a baby. So as you can imagine the stakes are high, and what envelops is a deeply layered, exciting coming-of-age tale that deals with love, family, and loyalty in a superbly acted and directed movie. So go see it!
For those of you with low attention spans: this is not a Michael Bay film. Compared to most films, this movie takes its time to tell its story. This may be off-putting to some, but if you have the patience, the story does pay off. There is so much more said when an actor just gives a look instead of a long piece of dialogue; Tye Sheridan in particular gives one of the best "child" performances I've ever seen, and the includes anything from ET to Stand By Me. And of course McConaughey is amazing as this possibly dangerous, but good-hearted outlaw. I love how Nichols paints these characters in shades of grey; although there are a few "clear" bad guys, the main characters all feel authentic and even when they make bad decisions you can still feel for them. Just good work all around.
Before Zach Snyder ultimately landed his Man of Steel directing gig, Jeff Nichols was on the shortlist. Strangely enough, he was my top choice of the list, which included Tony Scott and Matt Reeves, even though he'd only done small little indie movies. It would've been interesting to see him take on a big blockbuster like that, but Mud is the logical continuation of his impressive filmography. We're seeing more and more "indie" directors taking on big movies (Mark Webb with Amazing Spider-Man and now Colin Trevorrow with Jurassic Park 4), but until Nichols finally takes that leap, if ever, we'll have these incredible, emotionally charged films like Mud to remind us why movies are the best god damn art form there is.
Rating: A-
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