Take Shelter director Jeff Nichols returns with a Southern tale that owes much to Mark Twain as two teenage boys help Matthew McConaughey’s titular fugitive.

The inseparable Ellis (Tye Sheridan) and Neckbone (Jacob Loftland) are our modern-day Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer. They ride motorbikes, pilot motorboats, and enjoy the laidback lifestyle of the Mississippi river. Orphaned Neck lives with his Uncle Galen (Michael Shannon), a womaniser, oyster fisher, and collector of riverbed trash. Ellis endures the disintegrating marriage of his parents Senior (Ray McKinnon) and MaryLee (Sarah Paulson). Then, boating out to an island in the river to see a boat stranded in a tree by a flood, they encounter Mud (Matthew McConaughey); a superstitious fugitive waiting for his true love Juniper (Reese Witherspoon) to rendezvous with him, and hiding out from the law and Texan cowboys the while. Neck is wary of Mud but Ellis is drawn to his irrepressible romanticism and soon the boys find themselves conspiring with Mud, and inviting danger…

If you’ve read Huckleberry Finn you’ll grin at Mud’s entrance being announced by distinctive footprints because of nails forming a cross in his boot just like Pa Finn. You’ll also enjoy an absurd moment worthy of Twain’s warring clans the Grangerfords and Shepherdsons bringing their guns to church. That blood feud is echoed in the vendetta against Mud by implacable Texans led by the smooth Carver (Paul Sparks) and his gruff father King (Joe Don Baker). Nichols manages to make such touches not seem anachronistic by giving a timeless quality to proceedings. People ring landlines and ask for the person they want to talk to, Galen uses a 19^th century diving helmet with a 21^st century skin-suit, and the Beach Boys’ ‘Help Me Rhonda’ gets its most prominent use since 1980s show ALF. Nichols pulls this off largely by his insistence on shooting on remote, strikingly beautiful locations in Arkansas, which his regular cinematographer Adam Stone imbues with heavenly sheen.

Nichols’ Take Shelter was one of the finest films of 2011, and Mud shows startling range in being expansive and optimistic where that was intense and foreboding. Tree of Life star Sheridan gives a subtle turn as Ellis, who reacts to his parents’ separation and the loss of his riverside life by bonding with Mud because of his unquenchable belief in everlasting love. Ellis projects Mud’s love for Juniper onto his own putative girlfriend MayPearl (Bonnie Sturdivant) despite the warnings by his mysterious neighbour Tom Blankenship (Sam Shepard) that Mud is a fool for love, and that Ellis and Neck are making themselves as great fools by running messages for Mud and scrounging materials for his tree-stranded boat. Nichols draws uniformly flawless performances from his perfectly judged ensemble to make this a deeply felt tale of love and wisdom, played against the rolling Mississippi and endless local charms against bad luck, which builds to a climax suitable for a director whose debut was called Shotgun Stories. The ending makes you think of Huck’s closing peroration, but the final image then makes you think Frederick Jackson Turner got it wrong – the frontier spirit is well-nigh indestructible.

Nichols’ third film is his most ambitious and warmest. Rich and absorbing, it is lit by a deep affection for his characters. The best film I’ve seen this year.

5/5

Mud (written & directed by Jeff Nichols)

Grade:  A

Matthew McConaughey is on quite a roll.  He’s been delivering one killer performance after another with The Lincoln Lawyer, Bernie, Magic Mike and Killer Joe.  And in this, his latest starring vehicle, as directed by Jeff Nichols (Shotgun Stories, Take Shelter), he once more shines as an earthy man fueled  by hidden demons and an obsessive love.

As the titular character, McConaughey has set camp on an island off the Arkansas coast in a boat stuck in a tree during a flood.  Two young boys, Ellis and Neckbone, stumble upon the boat and lay claim to it only to discover its current occupant.  Mud is hiding out on the island waiting for word from his girlfriend, Juniper, a mercurial woman played by Reese Witherspoon.  The trio strike a bargain and an odd friendship is formed.

Ellis is intrigued and inspired by Mud and Juniper’s story.  While trying to reconnect the lovers, he falls in love himself with an older girl from his school.  Neck looks up to Ellis but is much more cautious in his dealings with the strange man on the island who surrounds himself with lucky totems.  He just wants Mud to honor his end of the bargain to give Neck his pistol once they get the boat running.  But as it all to often happens in life, no one is really going to get what they want.  Mud and his mission may drive the plot but the film is just as much about his young friends, especially Ellis.  His views on love and relationships are consistently challenged by the dichotomy of Mud’s idealized love for Juniper and his own parent’s deteriorating marriage.

Nichols envisioned his movie as a coming-of-age tale, a modern take on Tom Sawyer.  It’s a bit daring to strive for the lofty greatness of Twain’s classic but the filmmaker comes damn close with genuinely great storytelling and with the help of a stellar cast.

Highest recommendation.

Young director, Jeff Nichols, brought us my favorite movie of 2011 (the brilliant “Take Shelter).  He’s now back with “Mud;” an evocative coming of age story set in rural Arkansas. Fourteen year old Ellis (Tye Sheriden) is a bit of a wide-eyed innocent living in a houseboat on a long river.  One day Ellis and his far more cynical friend Neckbone (Jacob Lofland) encounter Mud (Matthew McConaughey) living on a small island in the river.  Something about this man seems like trouble but Ellis is drawn to him, despite Neckbone’s good sense. The story flows at a pace as steady as the river’s, building it’s tensions while also showing us life in rural Arkansas.  Who Mud turns out to be and the story arc that surrounds him seems less important than the lessons Ellis learns along the way.  This is a film about love in all it’s forms: familial love, the love of friends, romantic love, the way love fails and, ultimately, the need to be loved.  Ellis is an innocent who learns a lot about what love is and what it isn’t and we watch that knowledge compete with what he wants love to be.  This is a film with action and danger and tension but it is really a sweet film about growing up.  Sheriden (“Tree of Life”) does a beautiful job of playing sensitive, idealistic Ellis and Lofland (in his first film) also shines as his more jaded friend.  McConaughey does sterling work and when you compare this performance to two recent ones (“Magic Mike” and “Killer Joe”), it really gives you a sense of his range as an actor.  The cast was rounded out with fantastic performances by Reese Witherspoon, Sarah Paulson, Ray McKinnon, Sam Shepard and Michael Shannon, each character displaying love (in all its strengths and weaknesses) in different ways.  From start to finish, this was a lovely film.

Following up the epically, mind-constricting, apocalyptic madness that was 2011′s Take Shelter must have seemed like a daunting task, a film that’s impact is not necessarily immediately apparent but lingers and torments in its viewer’s brain long afterwards, revealing itself as a terrifying masterpiece. I can’t remember being completely enamored with it at the time but perhaps that was more out of distress from a film which creates such an oppressive atmosphere. Thinking back to those clouds still feels frightening. Director Ben Nichols is an immensely talented man whose work deserves reflection.

Mud probably won’t linger in quite the same way but some of its images and feelings do burn deep. Simply, it’s a coming of age tale. Two friends in their early teens, Elis (Tye Sheridan) and Neckbone (Jacob Lofland, who shares an uncanny resemblance to River Phoenix in Stand by Me) wander off in a small motorboat down the Mississippi River, stumbling upon an island, where they encounter Mud (Matthew McConaughey), a fugitive attempting to reconnect with his love, Juniper (Reese Witherspoon). Mud is hiding on the island away from the authorities, using the boys to help him reunite with his love and just like the aforementioned Stand By Me, the boys find themselves suddenly burdened with very mature emotions and responsibilities. Elis and Neckbone initially discover evidence of Mud’s existence in a boat which somehow found itself lodged up in the branches of a tree, which is the sort of offbeat detail which makes this adventure so intriguing and charming as a major subplot involves getting the boat back down to shore.

Nichols said he wrote the role with McConaughey in mind, whose career renaissance continues to dazzle, although the real star is teenager Tye Sheridan whose only previous acting experience was in Terrance Malick’s Tree of Life. Sheridan performance shows a remarkable maturity, delicate and poignant but still very much just a teenage kid. I’m a sucker for southern drawls and the film is naturally full of them, projected against the almost mythic world of river life and an abandoned island, a dreamlike setting is created alongside some very earthly characters.

The mystical sense of childhood discovery builds slowly, taking its time against the stunning backdrop. It’s a film which allows its camera to turn its setting into something visceral, relating to Mud’s feeling of desperate lonely love in the same way Elis understands his role in helping Mud reconnect with where he should be, earnestly trying to make something beautiful but detached whole again. It’s a slow burning 130 minutes that optimises its use of its setting, yet again showcasing Ben Nichols’s remarkable ability to build senses of atmosphere and man’s connection to nature.

Review by David Rank

Mud is out on 10th May in the UK. Running time 130 mins. Certificate 12A (UK).

Comments and feedback are always welcome or just give the film a rating by using the stars at the top.

Mud was a movie I knew I wanted to see the second I saw the trailer.  McConaughey’s dialogue is reminiscent of a lonely, desperate southern man; portrayed in the movie how a child would see a man.

Plot: Two boys wander into a southern isle to find a boat stuck up in a tree with a man living in it.  Is he an outlaw? Is he a good man? Is he a liar? Who is he?  There’s a love story surrounding McConaughey (Mud) and Reese Witherspoon (Juniper).  The boys learn more about Mud as the viewer does, and you’ll have to see the movie to know who he is.

Thoughts: Have you ever seen The Great Gatsby?  [Don’t read this further if you haven’t, I don’t want to spoil it for you].  The feeling you get when Redford gets shot is the feeling you’ll walk out with at the end of Mud.  You’ll be angry and hurt and happy – all at the same time.

The movie leaves you feeling like you’ve been robbed of something; just before it ends it gives you a little bit back.

Dir. Jeff Nichols

Director Jeff Nichols previously helmed Take Shelter, one of my favorite films of 2011. His follow-up, Mud, is set in another rural community, but takes a much different point of view, showing life along the Mississippi river through the eyes of 14-year-old Ellis (Tye Sheridan, in an impressive breakthrough performance). He becomes involved in the life of the mysterious title character played by Matthew McConaughey, who has made better, more interesting career choices in the last two years than he had in the previous 15.

Ellis’s motives and desires are the film’s most compelling aspect. His parents are separating, which will force him from the house he’s lived in all his life, so when he meets Mud on a desolate island on the Mississippi and hears his story of lost love, Ellis intervenes, both because he is drawn to Mud’s isolation from the rules and constraints of the outside world and because Ellis wants to prove, if only to himself, that love is something that can be relied on. If he can repair Mud’s romance, perhaps Ellis can put his own family back together.

Themes of love, family, and obligation run throughout the film. Ellis’s best friend, Neckbone (Jacob Lofland) doesn’t have his parents and is being raised by his uncle (Michael Shannon). And Mud himself has a surrogate father of sorts in Tom Blankenship (Sam Shepard). Meanwhile, Ellis navigates his first romance, which is its own emotional minefield for a teenage boy; between his parents, himself, and Mud, Ellis is testing the limits of love at every turn.

The specifics of Mud’s storyline are not quite as interesting. He’s in love with Juniper (Reese Witherspoon) and in defending her honor ran afoul of the law. There is also a group of criminals hunting him down, and while Ellis runs errands for him information is revealed bit by bit in passages of exposition. It’s possible Mud’s story could support the film on its own – though a violent climax seems like a better fit for Django Unchained than this film – but it’s the impression he leaves on Ellis that ultimately leaves an impression on us.

de Jeff Nichols

Matthew McConaughey, Tye Sheridan, Jacob Lofland, Sam Sheppard, Sarah Paulson, Ray McKinnoon

4,5/5

Neckbone et Ellis sont deux gamins qui vivent en Arkansas sur les bords du fleuve Mississippi. Un matin à l’aube, ils décident de se rendre à bord de leur canot à moteur, sur une ile désert au milieu du fleuve. Ils veulent s’approprier un bateau perché en haut d’un arbre, apporter là par les dernières inondations. Alors qu’ils pensaient que le navire et l’ile étaient inhabités, ils rencontrent Mud, un homme étrange, qui dit être arrivé sur l’ile quelques jours auparavant. En manque de nourriture, ils proposent aux deux garçons un marché: si ils apportent certaines choses dont il a besoin pour partir, il leur laissera le bateau perché à son départ. Neckbone est méfiant et n’a pas envie de négocier avec Mud, mais Ellis est quelque peu fasciné par le monsieur et décide d’accepter.

J’avais vu et beaucoup apprécié le précédent film de Jeff Nichols, Take shelter, et j’étais très curieuse de voir Mud. J’y suis allée sans avoir vu la bande annonce, je ne me suis presque pas renseignée sur l’histoire, et c’est pas plus mal je trouve.

J’ai donc beaucoup aimé Mud, je l’ai trouvé supérieur à Take shelter qui est plus mystique, et qui possède une vraie puissance, mais Mud m’a au finale plus marqué.

Le film se déroule sur les bords du fleuve Mississippi, dans le fin fond de l’Arkansas, où des restructurations importantes se font, notamment la destruction progressive de ces maisons précaires, sur pilotis, où vit le jeune Ellis avec ses parents, son père qui vit de la pêche de crabe grâce au fleuve, et sa mère qui ne rêve que de changement et de déménager en ville.

Jeff Daniels a su nous faire ressentir à l’écran la moiteur, la chaleur et la lourdeur du climat du fleuve, c’est, comme pour take shelter, très bien filmé, et on ne voit pas le temps passé durant le film, je m’étais un peu ennuyé pendant take shelter ce ne fut pas le cas ici.

Comme pour son précédent film, il a su s’entourer de très bons acteurs et a su les diriger à la perfection. Matthew McConaughey tient là l’un de ses meilleures rôles et l’une de ses meilleures prestation, mais les deux enfants, Ellis et Neckbone (Tye Sheridan et Jacob Lofland) lui voleraient presque la vedette (ce sont les deux héros du film pour moi), ils sont vraiment excellents dans leurs rôles, et leurs deux personnages sont très attachants et touchants, entre Ellis qui croit à l’amour avec un grand A alors qu’il n’est entouré que de preuves contraires, et Neckbone, qui a plus le sens des réalité que son ami. J’ai adoré voir à l’écran leur enfance, leurs aventures, leurs espoirs, leur naiveté, leur témérité, ce sont de vrais enfants, qui ne sont pas idéalisés, j’ai eu parfois l’impression d’avoir affaire à Tom Sawyer et Huck Finn ou de me retrouver devant certains films de mon enfance (DARYL, les goonies… mais avec un coté bien plus réaliste bien sur).

Je me suis laissée empoter par l’enthousiasme des deux enfants, de leurs aventures et mésaventures, de leurs voyages sur l’ile, de leurs discussions avec Mud, j’ai avancé doucement, au rythme du film, pour en apprendre plus sur Mud, son passé, son histoire. A coté de l’histoire de Mud, on découvre aussi la vie de cette région, les maisons sur pilotis sur la rive du fleuve, la nouvelle loi qui veut leur destruction, la survie grâce à la pêche en tout genre…

En bref, un film sur la fin de l’enfance, l’amitié, la loyauté, l’amour, qui nous raconte le quotidien d’une région. J’ai adoré me laisser porter par les histories des différents personnages, Ellis et Neckbone, mais aussi les parents d’Ellis, qui ne sont plus d’accord, Blankenship, le voisin d’Ellis qui connait le passé de Mud, j’ai adoré me laisser surprendre, et j’ai adoré que certains clichés soient heureusement évités, à ne pas rater!

The imagery of Mud is immediately arresting, capturing the beauty of the world with the wonderment of a young child. Jeff Nichols, in this respect, is similar to Olivier Assayas. He has a knack for turning natural landscapes into living, breathing beauties, instilling them with a presence and significance that mirrors the inquisitive and impressionable nature of youth. Excavations across the water and light poking through trees look every bit as stunning as the luscious greenery and impending storm clouds that haunt Take Shelter.

None of that would mean anything if the writing didn’t make something of it. Mud is the story of Ellis, a 14 year old living on a boathouse with his parents, and the adventure he takes with his friend “Neckbone” to a nearby island, where they meet the film’s grittier Boo Radley, Mud (Matthew McConeaughey). Mud is a benevolent mystery, a teacher, and a storyteller, but also a wanted murderer. The kids are more fascinated by his gun and story than scared by him.

As it goes on, Mud takes the thriller aspects of the story a bit too far, and the film threatens to devolve into an outlandish, lighter version Leon: The Professional with a strange side story about Ellis’ divorcing parents. It’s quite over-plotted as a whole, and more down time for the kids to explore and understanding would be good for it, but it gets bogged down trying to solve its own mystery. It also has very strange gender politics, as if it noticed they were a bit simple (but not bad) and wanted to sweeten the cake a little bit. But it always regains its footing, and its first half is especially strong, setting up this a story not of thrills or revenge, but of fatherhood and love.

That love aspect is what warrants the Days of Heaven comparison. Beyond the beautifully captured exteriors, both films attempt to show love as it is experienced and understood through a youth, but Ellis is a few years older, at 14, and he’s just beginning to understand these things. He looks at love as it exists in his own life—a crush on an older girl who he sees being mistreated—but primarily through the adults in his life. That is, his parents getting ready for divorce, Mud and his quest to win back the woman he killed a man for, Neckbone being raised by his single, womanizing uncle (Michael Shannon), and even the quiet neighbor, Tom, gets a mention in this context. When you put it all together, it’s a wide-ranging and confusing depiction of love, so it makes sense for Ellis to be confused. But it’s the lesson he learns along the way, the way these people fight for each other (or don’t) and the way they treat women, that helps him learn. Love is complicated, and it manifests itself in a diverse array of forms; trying to understand and learn from that is one of the beauties of growing up.

Fatherhood is just as important. Ellis is much closer with his father, Mud calls Tom “the closest thing” he had to a dad, and Neckbone doesn’t know his parents but has his uncle, very different from Ellis’ father. And what of the father of Juniper’s unborn child, obviously the deep-end of failed fatherhood? Mud gives a hard-boiled but ultimately optimistic and moral understanding of fatherhood but does not dodge the complexities of it. Upbringing, of course, ties in very closely with love. Ellis is much more of a gentleman than his friend, who shows traits he likely learned from his uncle.

So it’s a bit uneven, but a step forward from Take Shelter, with a more lyrical, exploratory approach naturally suiting the universal, youthful subject matter. Just as important, Mud remains optimistic but is never sappy; in that sense, it’s an ode to youth in a much more general sense, and that’s the beauty of the film as a whole. Content, form, and tone all complement one another, and the details of each character all stand out in important, inter-linked ways. This is largely because of Nichols skill with actors—he gets an appropriate performance out of Michael Shannon in a surprisingly small role, but he does wonders with the kids. That’s proof that with a bit more confidence and patience, Jeff Nichols could create something truly special. As it stands, he has an endearing and intelligent spin on coming-of-age, and that’s perfectly fine for now.

Grade: B+

Mud [2013]
Director: Jeff Nichols
Screenplay: Jeff Nichols
Genre: Drama
Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Tye Sheridan, Jacob Lofland, Reese Witherspoon
Running Time: 130 minutes

Much like the water/soil mixture of the same name, Mud, Jeff Nichols’ latest film, is a mixture of a number of elements. This is part “coming of age”, part love story and part mystery/thriller. While sometimes films fail when mixing so many themes together, that is not the case here. With Mud, all ideas are expertly interwoven in a film that is as American as it gets.

Set deep along the Mississippi River in rural Arkansas, Mud tells the tale of two 14-year-old boys, Ellis (Tye Sheridan) and Neckbone (Jacob Lofland), who together share a wild adventurous spirit. They ride dirtbikes and regularly sneak off on afternoon boat trips to a hidden island down the river. One day, they notice a boat in a tree on this island. While exploring what they believe to be their new treehouse, they discover that someone is actually living there. Shortly thereafter, they meet this inhabitant, a man who only goes by “Mud” (Matthew McConaughey).

It turns out that Mud is on this secluded island for a reason — he’s on the run from the law. The fact that he is a wanted fugitive doesn’t deter the boys from developing an unlikely friendship with him. As Mud tells them about his long-lost love, Juniper (Reese Witherspoon), the boys make an oath to help him find his lady and ride off to the sunset.

There are other factors at play as well. Ellis is feeling distant from his soon-to-be-separated parents (played by the fantastic Ray McKinnon and Sarah Paulson), and surely this is part of the reason why he is so drawn to Mud. Ellis also has a love interest of his own — Maypearl (Bonnie Sturdivant) — with two first names, just like his mother. No matter that she is a few years older than him; Ellis is the type of feller who isn’t afraid to ask her to be his girlfriend after just one date.

The comradery between Ellis and Neckbone is tremendous. These two young boys really do feel like they are best friends, and both are expertly portrayed by relative newcomers to the acting biz (Sheridan was in The Tree of Life, this is Lofland’s first film). Matthew McConaughey also takes an exceptional turn as the multi-layered Mud. After several excellent Southern-fried roles in the last few years (including Killer Joe and Bernie), this manages to stand out as his best work. The supporting cast here is terrific as well. Reese Witherspoon is a surprisingly good fit as the damaged and confused Juniper, Ray McKinnon and Sarah Paulson make for a strong pairing as Ellis’ disgruntled parents, and Sam Shepard has a memorable appearance as the grizzled old vet who lives across the river. Even Nichols favorite, Michael Shannon, has a small role as Neckbone’s uncle/guardian.

Mud is very much an enjoyable film, but it does suffer from two notable flaws. One, it runs a little long. The film’s pacing is slow and methodical, which isn’t a problem in itself, but certain subplots and minor characters could have been reduced or even omitted with minimal loss. Two, the explosive final act feels a bit out of place after the slow burn drama leading up to that point. While exciting, the transition to this action setpiece is jarring.

Regardless, Jeff Nichols has delivered another engaging film, one that especially nails its Southern setting. Everyone involved feels like a real Southerner — even McConaughey is touched up to look more rugged — and it’s hard not to get attached to most of these characters. This is a film that makes us feel like teenagers again, and through their eyes, it’s not hard to empathize with ol’ Mud.

8/10

 2013 Sundance Film Festival London Review

The highly anticipated 2013 Sundance Film Festival returned to London last  weekend    for a four day-long event, showcasing an abundance of refreshing and innovative American films for British eyes.

 Returning to the 02 Arena for its second year, Sundance London offers film fanatics the opportunity to catch early screenings, documentaries and shorts all accompanied afterwards by panel discussions with the directors. This weekend also saw Sundance hold its own mini music festival where fresh, new British and American artists performed throughout the weekend in the film hub.

Elated fans were treated to an early screening of the highly anticipated feature film Mud, starring Matthew McConaughey and Reese Wittherspoon. The story begins with two young boys discovering an outlaw hiding out on an island just off the Mississippi. This coming of age tale about love and heartbreak hits UK cinemas on May 10^th. Writer and director, Jeff Nicols said: “We premiered this film nearly a year ago, and then again earlier this year in Utah, I think that we owe a lot to Sundance as they’ve done us a big favour and helped re-energise this movie.”

(Jeff Nicols director of Mud)

The calibre of films that were screened over the weekend offered viewers a unique Sundance experience; from comedies trivialising divorce, to a documentary  about legendary American writer Earnest Hemingway’s daughter, Mariel, as she explores her family’s history of mental illness and suicide.  Tickets sold out fast and waiting lists were full.

Director Jordan Vogt-Roberts’ first feature film The Kings of Summer had its international premier at Sundance.  This comedy about tree boys on the brink of adulthood running away and building a home in the woods was a huge hit with audiences. Vogt-Roberts said:      “We really make indispose-able films these days; I grew up watching things like the Goonies and Back to the Future so I wanted to make something for adults that would remind them of their childhood.”

Likewise, director of A.C.O.D (Adult Children of Divorce) staring Adam Scott and Richard Jenkins, Stu Zicherman said: “No one’s ever tried to write a divorce comedy before, but nowadays in the US, there’s no stigma attached to marriage anymore.  After taking eight years to write the film, it’s the greatest honour being invited to Sundance.”

(Director Stu Zicherman and Actor Adam Scott talking about A.C.O.D)

The 02 Arena in North Greenwich played a huge part in making this weekend a success.

Inside, a sophisticated ease  graced the Arena as the make-shift streets filled with bars and restaurants catered to fan’s needs and friendly volunteers were dotted around to help direct people towards screen rooms and events.

Sundance was founded by actor Robert Redford back in 1981 and since then it has helped thousands of independent film makers by introducing their work to audiences worldwide. As well as providing people with an insight into the creative and glamorous world of film, Sundance prides itself in showcasing original American films for the world to see.

Director: Jeff Nichols 

Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Tye Sheridan, Jacob Lofland, Reese Witherspoon

Matthew McConaughey appears to be on a roll in regards to choosing his roles. With this Jeff Nichols follow-up to the fantastic Take Shelter, McConaughey is now the lead (or at least the co-lead) in a film that happens to be my favorite of the year so far (I realize that’s not saying a whole lot since this year has been crap so far, but I swear this movies is awesome).

Mud is centered around a teenage boy named Ellis. He and his friend Neckbone travel to an island to discover a shipwrecked boat they want to work on to keep for themselves. What they do not expect to find is a man wanted for murder living on the island. This man, even though he’s a murderer, seems like a fairly nice guy and the two adolescents start to help him by bringing him food and helping him avoid the police. Of course the film becomes a little bit more complicated than the basic plot I’ve laid out.

It turns out this film is really about finding a way to believe in love, no matter how bleak things get or how badly the opposite sexes can tend to treat each other. As Ellis goes through some difficulties with his personal life; a pending divorce of his parents, his first girlfriend breaking his heart, and, well… helping the stranger he met on an island who’s wanted for murder.

All of the plot points combine to provide the audience with a poignant, yet entertaining film that believes in something. It’s a film that seems cynical on the surface but has so many moments where the opposite is proven, where the good shines through in the characters and where hope is found.

The film accomplishes these goals not just through the tight telling of the story, but also with some excellent performances. The kid actor, Tye Sheridan, is great as Ellis, especially for a young actor in a film that relies quite heavily on such a young character. If the audience doesn’t buy this character, the movie just flat out does not work. It’s a character that remains consistent and believable throughout the story,  as he gradually loses trust in people and struggles to keep his faith in the existence of love.

McConaughey is exceptional as the title character, Mud (yes that’s the guy’s name, or at least what he tells people to call him). There’s a little bit of your typical McConaughey cockiness that comes through in the character, but it works well for a person who is, by many appearances, very deceitful. There’s also a sense of innocence in Mud, or at least as much innocence as one could expect for a murderer. His relationship that is developed with Ellis is one that turns out to be very interesting and he could be seen as the guy that Ellis will eventually turn into.

A few other things to mention would be the Michael Shannon appearance. Every time Michael Shannon is in something that thing is automatically made better than it would have been without him. There’s also a quite important role from Reese Witherspoon in this film as Mud’s love interest. The other child actor in this movie serves as somewhat of a comic relief, and the young actor, Jacob Lofland, does a really nice job.

This is movie that gets just about everything right. It’s thrilling. It’s smart. It’s funny. It’s sad. It’s an extremely well-made film that can be enjoyed by general audiences and cinephiles at the same time. Jeff Nichols created a very nice follow-up to his previous masterpiece.

My Rating: 4 out of 5 

Nate’s Grade: A-

It says a lot when a movie is able to completely encapsulate you into itself. And when I say encapsulation, I mean on every level. Story-wise, character-wise, and believability are a few of those levels that come to mind. And in every sense, Jeff Nichols’ latest film “Mud” does this with ease and precision.

“Mud” follows two boys living in small-town Arkansas who stumble upon a boat left in a tree from a previous flood. Their curiosity drives them to explore the boat only to find that someone is living inside of it. While leaving, they meet the title character, Mud, played by Matthew McConaughey. After learning of Mud’s run-in with the law and undying affection for a woman named Juniper (Reese Witherspoon), the two boys decide to help Mud reunite with her.

Perhaps the most mind-boggling thing about this film is how a character with so many flaws is able to become likable. Mud, possessing qualities of things ranging from obsession to cowardice to murderous intention, is still a character you can root for.

Regardless of the aforementioned traits, you’re still somehow able to understand where this lost man is coming from, while hoping the best for him in the process. These are certainly the qualities of a complex and fully realized character.

From its setting to its characters, the film is convincing. It is able to capture the small-town essence of a tightly-knit community where everyone knows each other’s names through fully realized friendships.

Ellis and Neckbone (played by Tye Sheridan and Jacob Lofland, respectively) give what may be the most genuine depiction of a childhood friendship ever put on screen. They play off each other with wit and charisma, while also staying grounded in reality whilst living in this confined space. Their early mixed emotions toward Mud and his questionable personality are both understandable and realistic. You’re able to completely understand their unnerving attitude toward who could potentially be dangerous to not only their lives from a mortal perspective, but also their personal relationships with their families and neighbors.

The film, however, does bring a few things to the table that otherwise veer off from the main story at hand. A certain tiny subplot regarding a young boy and his passion for an older girl as well as less-than-subtle foreshadowing of certain venomous creatures playing their way into the story are examples of a few issues that the movie possesses. Alongside those issues exists a climactic shootout scene (with a very effective first shot, might I add) that just seemed out of place. Yet, they never fully detract from the film’s enjoyability. In fact, one could openly argue that they actually integrate themselves into the characters very well, providing a way of qualifying your feelings toward them.

If anything, this film is a refreshing reminder that not every film needs to be riddled with explosives or scantily-clad women. Every now and then you can sit down and watch something and become fully immersed in its story and characters. It’s a great thing to be able to sit down for a couple of hours and go along for a ride with characters that you genuinely believe and want to see succeed in their goals. Mud is, in conclusion, a great piece of filmmaking.

Mud gets a 9/10.

It seems the American South in the midst of a reemergence. With television shows like “Eastbound & Down” and “Duck Dynasty” redefining the south on its own hilarious terms, there is one man in the movie business who seems dead set on appearing in every interesting and provocative film set below the Mason-Dixon line: Matthew McConaughey.

A Texas native, McConaughey has had an affinity for movies set in the South for most of his career, his breakout performance in Richard Linklater’s “Dazed and Confused” introduced the world to his cool, syrupy Southern drawl, and in the twenty years since that film’s release, McConaughey has made a point of returning to his roots to do films like “A Time to Kill” and “Newton Boys.”

In the last two years, starting with his appearance in Linklater’s “Bernie” in 2011, McConaughey has not made a film that doesn’t take place in Texas, Louisiana or Florida. And arguably, starting with the film he did just before “Bernie” (“The Lincoln Lawyer) he has not been involved with a “bad” movie. The man either has phenomenal luck, or exquisite taste in material; but more likely, it is a combination of both.

Following “The Lincoln Lawyer” and “Bernie,” both exceptional movies, McConaughey went on to do “Killer Joe” (joyfully sick and twisted), an “Eastbound & Down” run (fantastic and funny), “The Paperboy” (racially charged and fearlessly violent), Soderbergh’s “Magic Mike” where he elevated an okay indie flick to a movie that should not be missed. And then he does “Mud,” turning in what may be the greatest performance of his career so far.

Jeff Nichols’ “Mud” is told from the point of view of a couple of kids who are living on the Mississippi river. They are doing what kids do, looking for adventure, when they discover a boat in a tree, and along with it, a man with crucifixes on his boot heels and a 9mm in his waist band. This man, Mud (McConaughey), is a mystery. Everything about him is dangerous, suspicious, dirty. And the kids cannot stay away from him.

Ellis (Tye Sheridan) is 14 years-old and has just learned his folks may be getting divorced. He is pissed off at his parents, and when he meets Mud, Ellis can’t resist the appeal of Mud’s commitment to romantic love. Ellis decides to help Mud in whatever way he can if it will facilitate Mud reuniting with the love of his life, Juniper (a refreshingly raw Reese Witherspoon).

Ellis’ wise-cracking best friend Neckbone (Jacob Lofland) is more than a bit wary of Mud, as he should be, but he goes along with Ellis regardless. And it is this theme of commitment — commitment to friends, to lovers, to family — that makes “Mud” such an attractive story. This is a movie about sacrifice and selflessness, about giving in order to get, about doing what’s right even when it feels wrong.

The film is shot and cut with a no-nonsense approach that highlights the lives of the characters. There is nothing flashy or flamboyant about this picture except for the exceptionally crafted script and the complex performances. McConaughey is an obvious standout, but Witherspoon delivers as a girl who is too pretty for her own good. Sam Shepard is great as an ex-Marine sharpshooter, and Michael Shannon gets the most laughs in the film as Neckbone’s pearl-diving, playboy uncle. Sarah Paulson plays a strong woman in a universe where the women are typically portrayed as weak, and Joe Don Baker crushes his role as a vengeful father. Again, every performance in the picture is rooted in reality and well-studied truth.

But the most impressive actors in this picture are the teenagers, Tye Sheridan and Jacob Lofland. Their relationship feels authentic, calling to mind the performances of the kids in “Stand by Me” and “The Goonies.” It’s been a long time since a movie featured young kids doing young kid things so effectively, and “Mud” gets the mixture of awe, innocence and angst just right.

I found Nichol’s last picture, “Take Shelter,” to be almost unwatchable. The tone was so serious and dark and moody, and the story didn’t really amount to much. But “Mud” is a smart, fun, complex and moving motion picture. It’s a movie in the all the best ways, finding the sweet spot between romanticism and reality, and blowing it up to big-screen proportions.

‘There are things you can get away with in this world, and there are things you can’t’

The UK premiere of Jeff Nichols feature film, Mud, took place last weekend at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. Starring Matthew McConaughey; critics are saying it’s the performance of his career.

14 year-old Ellis (Tye Sheridan) and his best friend, Neckbone (Jacob Lofland) sneak out one morning to set out to an island on the Mississippi River. Here they discover an abandoned boat, or so they think, they discover that a man has been living in the boat they desire to reclaim. Mud (McConaughey) is an outlaw hiding from his past, he befriends the boys with caution and together they formulate a plan to contact his girlfriend, Juniper (Reese Witherspoon). Caught up with false perceptions of love, Ellis wants to reunite the former lovers; however his naivety becomes his enemy and he finds himself in some unexpected situations as he tries to piece together the puzzle that surrounds his new friend, Mud.

This coming of age story is somewhat different from its predecessors; set in the Deep South it lures you in to the small world of mystery that surrounds America’s wastelands. With themes of love and heartbreak, the characters journeys throughout the film make it worthy of acclaim. Director and writer Jeff Nichols said: “This film is about kids, they don’t have the anxiety that we carry around as adults, like the world falling apart or whatever it is, they don’t have that, they don’t have those pressures or anxiety’s, however, they have problems but there’s a different levity to it, it’s a lighter film, but It doesn’t mean it’s less sincere.”

Although most of the parts were written with a specific actor in mind, the film has an authentic and fresh edge. McConaughey’s performance is outstanding, he expresses feelings of love, regret and angry accordingly, becoming the hero and the heart of the film; certainly proving to people why he should not be typecast.

However, when it came to casting the young boys, Nichols had a different outlook. He said: “I have a certain way of making film, I demand that we go to these places and were not on a set somewhere, we don’t have green screens, and so applying this philosophy to casting makes sense, I want kids who are from these places. Though, there are lots of stereotypes written about the Deep South so I wanted to write something where you don’t look down on the boys.”

Mud is scheduled for release in cinemas nationwide on 10^th May 2013 so make sure you don’t miss it.

Check out the trailer

Reese Witherspoon plays a female philanderer in Jeff Nichols‘ new film

The first two-thirds of Mud represent the finest depiction of male adolescence I’ve ever seen. It’s a time that brings powerful sensations of enchantment disillusionment. It can be a surreal time, too. Writer-director Jeff Nichols, who gave us the outstanding Take Shelter in 2011, has a better handle on the angst and ecstasies of the awkward years than Steven Spielberg ever did.   

Mud is propelled by two extremely impressive young actors, Tye Sheridan and Jacob Lofland, who play Ellis and Neckbone, 14 year-old best friends. The way they make mischief along the waterways of Arkansas’ gulf coast, their names might as well be Tom and Huck. On a nearby island, they find a boat stuck up in a tree, put there by the last flood. It would be theirs to claim, except a mysterious man named Mud (Matthew McConaughey) is already squatting there.

McConaughey gives Mud that air of tough-guy introspection that the legless Lieutenant Dan had after the war. Each tattoo seems to represent a different vanquished dream or abandoned ambition. When the boys speak with mud for the first time, the scene is styled to make us see this scraggly, mysterious man through the boys’ point of view. It’s their movie. Ellis and Neckbone learn that Mud is on the lam, having shot a man who had been familiar with a woman named Juniper (Reese Witherspoon). The boys agree to help Mud. They’ll bring him food until he can rendezvous with Juniper. In exchange, Mud will let them have the boat.

Nichols’ screenplay throws a plethora of complications in their way, probably too many. Thus the nice, simple plot becomes crowded with the subplots and backstories of secondary characters. For Ellis, Mud comes to represent the power of transcendant love. If he can help this wayward criminal escape capture and reunite with his soul mate, it would mean love conquers all. It would mean that there’s hope his parents won’t separate, or at least that the love of his new girlfriend will restore balance to his universe. The sheer verisimilitude and likability of ty of Ellis made it impossible for me to groan at his naivete.

Mud is about how we learn the truth about love. It’s a dynamic thing, an imperfect thing, one that sometimes sustains you, and sometimes tears you apart. For many people, love causes as many wounds as it heals. Yet we still find we can’t live without it. When the boys find out that the reality of the leggy Ms. Juniper doesn’t match Mud’s idealized hyping of her, the boys are surprised. Mud is not. He’s only disappointed. “She’s been doing this to him for years,” a character remarks at one point.

As for the last third of Mud, it’s so busy paying off the setups of an over-plotted screenplay that it never comes close to attaining the resonance of the brilliantly streamlined Take Shelter. There Nichols’ supporting characters did exactly that. They helped us understand and contextualize the actions of the main players.

But Mud is too in love with some of these side characters, or perhaps the actors playing the characters, to let them do their job and nothing more. Sam Shepard is fantastic as Mr. Blankenship, the grizzled old man who shoots at water-dwelling snakes form his riverside porch. But do we need to know as much about his past lives as we end up knowing? Mud even insinuates that the old codger even loved-and-lost a woman once, too, gratuitously reinforcing our main theme. Really all we needed to know about Blankenship is that he’s a tad antisocial and he’s a good shot. (He’s a true American, in other words.)

Despite being freighted by plot overindulgences, Mud is a beautifully realized film. Nichols knows how to pick actors, and this is the best cast movie of 2013 so far. McConaughey has now put together a long string of performances so impressive (Killer Joe, Bernie, Magic Mike) that he’s earned the right to not be anyone’s punchline ever again. Even Reese Witherspoon, who has spent the last decade bouncing around asinine romantic comedies like a blonde pinball, uses Mud to remind us why she’s a movie star in the first place.

The ending of Mud is another case of a talented storyteller wanting to have his crabcake and eat it too, but that ending feels like a grace note. Nichols is more interested in the wonderment and anxieties of shedding one’s youth and adjusting to a new and strange skin called young adulthood.

Matthew McConaughey stars as Mud, a drifter who quickly captures the fascination of Ellis and his earnest buddy Neckbone (newcomer Jacob Lofland) as their worlds collide under a boat in a tree just off the Mississippi River in rural Arkansas. Turns out Mud is a bit of a smooth-talking philosopher who wins Ellis over spinning life yarns that come just as Ellis’ parents (Ray McKinnon from O’ Brother, Where Art Thou?, and Sarah Paulson from Martha Marcy May Marlene) are hitting a rough patch and he is trying to figure out just how the female species fits into the whole big picture. Mud lays out a beautiful story of how he killed a man protecting his true love Juniper (Reese Witherspoon). Now Mud is being chased by the man’s family (brother Carver played by Paul Sparks, and father King played by the too-rarely seen Joe Don Baker – looking great at age 77).

Michael Shannon has a few scenes as Neckbone’s Uncle who makes a living by diving for mussels in the river. You might remember how terrific Shannon was in Nichols’ Take Shelter, and he has become quite an interesting and dependable character actor in various projects. Even more impressive is Sam Shepard as Tom Blankenship … the father figure for Mud, and a quiet river guy with quite a colorful past. Shepherd’s first scene with Ellis is brilliant and could generate a campaign for Best Supporting Actor if this film can reach a wide enough audience.

The story is filled with numerous little realistic touches and it’s so original that there is no perfect comparison … though it does have some of the feel of Stand By Me, which is quite a compliment. It is difficult to remember another film where Beanie Weenies were such a valued prop, or where a boat in a tree became a negotiating point, or where the unhurried pace led to such tension. Tye Sheridan delivers a strong and rare performance for such a youngster, and McConaughey deserves special mention because he has clearly broken free of his early career Him-Bo roles, and can now be considered a legitimate actor. He is simply outstanding in the role of Mud. We sense the danger that follows him, but are enchanted with his connection to the boys. David Wingo’s score is the perfect cap for this little gem.

SEE THIS MOVIE IF: you enjoy quiet little indies that pack a whallop OR you want to see excellent work from a great cast

SKIP THIS MOVIE IF: deliberate pacing and sparse dialogue taking place in a quiet rural community equates to nap time for you

watch the trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2m9IFlz2iYo