MUD Matthew McConaughey plays the title character Mud who is living or at least inhabiting an otherwise uninhabited island in the middle of the Mississippi River somewhere between Arkansas and Mississippi. He is discovered by two 14 year old boys Ellis (Tye Sheridan) and Neckbone (Jacob Lofland) who have boated out to the island to lay claim to what appears to be about a 14 ft pleasure boat, that somehow got itself caught up in the branches of a rather large tree, undoubtedly through the vicissitudes of one of the great river's frequent floods.
Mud is full of both mysticism, and philosophy, a true southern Gothic. He attributes supernatural powers to his shirt and bonfires. He waxes on at length on the causes and nature of good and bad luck, the latter being the one he is currently experiencing, and he has a claim and a plan for the boat of his own. So the competing claims must be negotiated. Mud regales the boys with his tale of woe and his lost love, Juniper (Reese Witherspoon). Mud believes with all his heart that he will reunite with Juniper and together they will sail or motor down the mighty Mississip to the Gulf of Mexico, where Mud believes he will attain some measure of freedom. But he needs the boys help to act as a go-between for him and Juniper, and of course to get the boat out of the tree and make it sea worthy.
Ellis, the romantic, stands ready immediately, but Neckbone the practical one, desires a tangible reward. He bargains for Mud's .45 that he keeps tucked in his belt.
With the introduction of the gun, the story takes an ominous turn. As it turns out, Mud has indeed used this weapon on the flesh of another human being, and has thus garnered the attention of all officialdom, complete with roadblocks and wanted posters. In addition, he has earned the ire of the dead man's family, whose patriarch (old friend, Walking Tall's Joe Don Baker) has organized a posse of miscreants and cutthroats to track Mud down, and not for the purpose of a fair trial.
All that being said the story is really about Ellis, a boy whose rustic way of life along the river is threatened to be subsumed by a modern culture that has little truck for such quaint anachronisms. Yet, Ellis remains a chivalrous romantic who sees his main purpose in life as the rescue of damsels in distress. When he puts his romanticism to the test in the real world, as all us romantics afore him know, he is bound for some disappointment. Nevertheless, he endures and perseveres.
Director Jeff Nichols has become a darling of the critics with his movies (Shotgun Stories & Take Shelter). His thematic approach seems to be the psychological effect on people of traditional value pitted against a society that seems to demand that they change these values on any current popular whim. He is to be admired in my view, for eschewing the typical Hollywood condescension of small town America as an insignificant voting bloc, possibly worthy of some future anthropological study, and giving his characters a distinct individuality; a sense of humor about the world and themselves; and most of all, dignity.
The fact that the movie stars Mathew McConaughey and Reese Witherspoon says a lot about Nichols growing reputation. This is not a big movie but it certainly attracted big stars. The casting of the two boys shows good eye and a director that knows what he wants.
Other supporting players of note note, Sam Sheppard as Ellis's eccentric, grumpy old man,across the river neighbor (He likes to shoot river snakes from hisporch) and Nichols favorite Michael Shannon (who may soon make a big splash in the upcoming "Iceman") as Neckbone's uncle and ill prepared but sincere caretaker.
Like the great river itself the movie does meander a bit.It is southern you know. The dialog accompanied by numerous meaningful looks arguably could be tightened up a bit, but big time actors require big time parts. So, there's that.There are some questions that pop up, like where does Mud get his cigarettes? He doesn't have any food, but he always has plenty of smokes. How does Ellis communicate so easily with Juniper when she is so obviously being watched? And there is some violence that didn't seem to me fitting with the tone of the movie, but these are quibbles. The film has the look and feel of a labor of love, so it's sins (if in fact they can be called sins), can easily be forgiven. But some may find the movie overly long. I however did not; it kept my interest the entire way.
So we have a coming of age story, with homage to Mark Twain and a sprinkling of Southern Gothic. With character names like Mud and Neckbone you might suspect that it's not your normal coming of age movie, and it's not, thank God. Ellis clearly has hormonal urges, but unlike most Hollywood efforts of this kind, it will not lead him to banal inanity and bathroom humor, but rather to a journey of self realization that is both satisfying to the character and to the audience.
It is a good story well told.
Mud is full of both mysticism, and philosophy, a true southern Gothic. He attributes supernatural powers to his shirt and bonfires. He waxes on at length on the causes and nature of good and bad luck, the latter being the one he is currently experiencing, and he has a claim and a plan for the boat of his own. So the competing claims must be negotiated. Mud regales the boys with his tale of woe and his lost love, Juniper (Reese Witherspoon). Mud believes with all his heart that he will reunite with Juniper and together they will sail or motor down the mighty Mississip to the Gulf of Mexico, where Mud believes he will attain some measure of freedom. But he needs the boys help to act as a go-between for him and Juniper, and of course to get the boat out of the tree and make it sea worthy.
Ellis, the romantic, stands ready immediately, but Neckbone the practical one, desires a tangible reward. He bargains for Mud's .45 that he keeps tucked in his belt.
With the introduction of the gun, the story takes an ominous turn. As it turns out, Mud has indeed used this weapon on the flesh of another human being, and has thus garnered the attention of all officialdom, complete with roadblocks and wanted posters. In addition, he has earned the ire of the dead man's family, whose patriarch (old friend, Walking Tall's Joe Don Baker) has organized a posse of miscreants and cutthroats to track Mud down, and not for the purpose of a fair trial.
All that being said the story is really about Ellis, a boy whose rustic way of life along the river is threatened to be subsumed by a modern culture that has little truck for such quaint anachronisms. Yet, Ellis remains a chivalrous romantic who sees his main purpose in life as the rescue of damsels in distress. When he puts his romanticism to the test in the real world, as all us romantics afore him know, he is bound for some disappointment. Nevertheless, he endures and perseveres.
Director Jeff Nichols has become a darling of the critics with his movies (Shotgun Stories & Take Shelter). His thematic approach seems to be the psychological effect on people of traditional value pitted against a society that seems to demand that they change these values on any current popular whim. He is to be admired in my view, for eschewing the typical Hollywood condescension of small town America as an insignificant voting bloc, possibly worthy of some future anthropological study, and giving his characters a distinct individuality; a sense of humor about the world and themselves; and most of all, dignity.
The fact that the movie stars Mathew McConaughey and Reese Witherspoon says a lot about Nichols growing reputation. This is not a big movie but it certainly attracted big stars. The casting of the two boys shows good eye and a director that knows what he wants.
Other supporting players of note note, Sam Sheppard as Ellis's eccentric, grumpy old man,across the river neighbor (He likes to shoot river snakes from hisporch) and Nichols favorite Michael Shannon (who may soon make a big splash in the upcoming "Iceman") as Neckbone's uncle and ill prepared but sincere caretaker.
Like the great river itself the movie does meander a bit.It is southern you know. The dialog accompanied by numerous meaningful looks arguably could be tightened up a bit, but big time actors require big time parts. So, there's that.There are some questions that pop up, like where does Mud get his cigarettes? He doesn't have any food, but he always has plenty of smokes. How does Ellis communicate so easily with Juniper when she is so obviously being watched? And there is some violence that didn't seem to me fitting with the tone of the movie, but these are quibbles. The film has the look and feel of a labor of love, so it's sins (if in fact they can be called sins), can easily be forgiven. But some may find the movie overly long. I however did not; it kept my interest the entire way.
So we have a coming of age story, with homage to Mark Twain and a sprinkling of Southern Gothic. With character names like Mud and Neckbone you might suspect that it's not your normal coming of age movie, and it's not, thank God. Ellis clearly has hormonal urges, but unlike most Hollywood efforts of this kind, it will not lead him to banal inanity and bathroom humor, but rather to a journey of self realization that is both satisfying to the character and to the audience.
It is a good story well told.