Mud (2012)

Mud: "I don't traffic in the truth too often, but I did love her. I do."

By Jeff Nichols
With Matthew McConaughey, Tye Sheridan and Jacob Lofland

I didn't know what to think of Mud at first. Usually when that  happens I browse the director's other films and it is usually a good tell especially when it comes to directors who are also writers. I came to know Jeff Nichols also directed Take Shelter (2011) which was a good surprise largely due to the lead actor Michael Shannon. I was curious to see if Matthew McConaughey had what it took to follow in this lead actor role.

In Arkansas, Ellis, a young 14 year old boy and his best, or only, friend Neckbone go out on Ellis' father's boat and explore an island where there is a boat stuck in a tree. They climb up and explore the boat only to realize that this boat is inhabited by someone. Their time is up and they need to give the boat back to Ellis' father, but they spot some footsteps in the sand, the same Ellis saw in the boat in the tree. After following the track to no avail, they turn back and there a man stands next to their boat. Ellis and Mud, the man's name, will form a special bond, both seeing the damages of love first hand. Ellis' parents are on the verge of divorce and Mud is on the run after killing a man who beat up the girl of his dreams. Mud being unable to leave the island because of both state troopers and bounty hunters, Ellis and Neckbone will help him out with a wide range of services. But this strange collaboration might endanger the three of them more greatly than they can foresee.

It seems that Arkansas is a staple of Jeff Nichols' movies and here it plays a role, maybe not as important as the main characters but it is certainly a secondary character since so much of the film revolves around this little town's intrinsic mechanisms and beautiful island by the water sceneries. The Southern accent that comes with being in Arkansas is also enjoyable.

The strength of the movie resides, not necessarily in its story, but in the development of the relationships between all the characters. The story is quite simple - boys find fugitive, fugitive wants girl, girl is trouble, boys help fugitive, what does fugitive do to help those who help him? That is of course a very narrow way to see it but this is just to show that the story is simple in appearance and yet the movie doesn't get boring a single minute even though it runs over two hours.

One of the greatest tasks of making such a movie is the casting of the boys as they are pivotal to everything the movie has. So you need to find boys with chemistry and ones you would believe to build up such traits towards a fugitive. This aspect works out in every way. Matthew McConaughey is also very convincing (even though he does keep his shirt on for the vast majority of the time) and even I believed that he genuinely loved the girl who once saved his life.

In addition to all this, the music added a great feel to the movie. Nevertheless, some events seemed unrealistic and mostly there in order to drive the story line in a certain direction. For example, the constant references to the snakes or the weird ritual of the bounty hunters were aspects I felt weren't necessarily needed. Some characters also tend to be reduced to a single purpose, one dimension characters, for example the assassin who just happens to live across the river or the uncle who searches the bottom of the river for lost items.

However, these instances do not damage the movie much and in the end it delivers a really good knot of believable characters who all try to do good but whose efforts might just lead to failure. Matthew McConaughey signs another good serious role, after Killer Joe (2011) proving that he's more than this shirtless actor of said romantic comedy. Jeff Nichols proves to make beautiful and solid films given a simple story and I hope to see more of those.

I liked: The bonds between the 3 boys. Beautiful landscapes, well filmed.

I disliked: A few contrived situations.

80/100
I enjoyed it thoroughly, it doesn't hold anything revolutionary but it is well executed and it feels rewarding to watch such a movie.