Title: Mud
Directed by: Jeff Nichols
Distributed by: Lionsgate
Release Date: April 26, 2013 (Wide)
Rated: R
Synopsis: Two teenage boys encounter a fugitive and form a pact to help him evade the bounty hunters on his trail and to reunite him with his true love. (Via IMDB)
Brian: No actor in recent memory has had the kind of unexpected career resurgence as Matthew McConaughey. After showing promise in the 90′s in movies like Lone Star, A Time to Kill, and the underrated EDtv, he slowly sank into the quicksand pit of romantic comedy hell. The Wedding Planner, Failure to Launch, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. Honestly, after his awesome turn in 2002′s Frailty, McConaughey fell off the face of the Earth for me. His being in a movie didn’t fill me with excitement, but with apathy. That all has changed in the last year, in which he has turned in five fantastic performances in a slew of fresh, daring indies, like Bernie, Killing Joe, and last summer’s smash hit Magic Mike. With a performance likely to have Oscar written all over it later this year in Dallas Buyers Club (just you wait!), and turns in Martin Scorsese’s and Christopher Nolan’s next two upcoming films, McConaughey is back, and on display in full force is his great talent, once again, in Mud. Playing yet another unique creation of a character, McConaughey embodies the title character with passion and mystery, and most of all, humanity. From writer/director Jeff Nichols, who made the great Take Shelter in 2011, Mud is a fascinating film to get lost in. It doesn’t have quite the same haunting power as The Place Beyond the Pines, which was also about beaten down characters and two kids trying to come to terms with the harsh realities of life, but it’s a very fine film.
Shaunta: I need to see The Place Beyond the Pines, just so that I have a frame of reference since it seems like every movie for the rest of the year might be compared to it! I thought Matthew McConaughey was great in Mud, but for me, this movie was all about the kids. Tye Sheridan as the lead character, Ellis, and Jacob Lofland as his best friend Neckbone, were incredible. Neckbone might be my new favorite kid character ever. What this movie is really about, at it’s heart, is Ellis–a fourteen-year-old romantic, figuring out that the world isn’t really set up for pure romance. I loved the relationship between Ellis and Neckbone, the way they related to the adults around them, and how this movie managed to capture that moment between grown-up and not grown-up with absolute perfection. As a writer, I’m fascinated by that time in between, when you’re old enough to have your own world, but not quite old enough to live there by yourself yet. Ellis and Neckbone have a secret, and it was delicious to watch it play out.
Brian: Jeff Nichols makes quiet character studies, rich in dialog and slow-building tension. At every turn of Mud you know something big and terrifying is coming, but you have to have patience. Nichols plants seeds everywhere, all to create the template for an ending that throws all but one of the characters into an explosive confrontation. In the meantime, sit back and enjoy the story unfold like a great novel. I loved the setting of the film, the gorgeous and eerie backwoods of Arkansas. The cinematography is gorgeous, everything from the tranquil shots of the lake to the passings-by of archaic corporate in the middle of the town. The two pre-teen actors, Tye Sheridan as Ellis and Jacob Lofland as Neckbone, are terrific finds. I’m always amazed when child actors can be so real and human and devastating on screen, and that’s what you get with these two. For me the big weak link of the film was Reese Witherspoon, her character Juniper, her storyline, everything. Mud’s love for Juniper keeps him going, but we never really get to understand their relationship, or what they mean to each other. Witherspoon doesn’t really play into the finale at all, and in the end, I found her appearance in the film distracting more than anything. An unknown in this role might have served the movie better. McConaughey, on the other hand, is mesmerizing in the main role, and I loved watching the growing bond his character has with Ellis. Their final tender moment toward the end is a thing of beauty. Mud is long and a little slow and may not work for everyone. But as much as I enjoyed, say, Iron Man 3, it’s films like Mud that keep me coming back to the theater. As long as unique stories like Mud keep being told, we’re going to keep coming back.
Shaunta: I agree about Reese Witherspoon. In a movie this long, there was time to flesh out that character and the relationship between Juniper and Mud more. The absolute devotion he has for her didn’t feel earned. This was a much slower-paced movie than I expected. There were a few spots where it occurred to me that I’d been at the theater a really, really long time. But when the more action-packed part comes at the end, you’ve been waiting for it so long that it feels like the best action in any movie ever. One of the things I really loved about this movie was how it blurred the lines between good and bad. You know who to root for, but you’re never really sure if you should be rooting for them.
*SPOILER ALERT* I really appreciated that this movie didn’t throw any emotional manipulation at me at the end. It would have been so easy to do, and in a movie like this it’s kind of typical, but it didn’t. I left the movie feeling just how I love to feel after a movie: happy and satisfied.
