★★★★
There’s a moment early in “Mud” where two boys are riding
down a river in a boat. They stop where one river meets another, wondering
whether or not to proceed. Ahead of them sits a small island. After a brief
moment of question, they continue on their way. It’s a good thing they do;
otherwise there would be no story to tell. Its that imaginative speculation that
drives them onward. Later, they’ll find something unexpected, and hear stories
from unknown people who may or may not be exactly what they seem. For the 130
minutes that make up “Mud,” you see the world through a young person’s eyes. Its
probably been awhile for a lot of us since we’ve looked at the world like this.
What we have here is a coming of age film, the quality of which we haven’t seen
in a very long time.
Tye Sheridan (“The Tree of Life”) stars as Ellis, a young
teen who enjoys hanging out with his best friend Neckbone (Jacob Lofland), both
of whom are always open to adventure. Also there’s that active interest in
girls that’s beginning to form. One day, the two boys take Neckbone’s small
fishing boat across the river to an island where they’ve heard a boat has been
found stuck in a tree. They find the boat, but they also discover the boat’s
already be claimed by a loner named Mud (Matthew McConaughey).
Mud doesn’t think of himself as a hobo or a burnout. No, he’s
here because he wants to be here. He’s here because he’s waiting to meet up
with the love of his life, Juniper (Reese Witherspoon). Ellis takes a liking to
Mud and wants to help him get back with Juniper. Call it childhood innocence,
but Ellis believes that if you have someone in your life that you can identify
as your “one true love,” then you need to be with that person.
The problem for Mud is that there are plenty of people out
there looking for him. Mud is wanted for murder. Not only are the police
looking for him, but the next of kin to the man he murdered also want a crack
at him. This includes the man’s brother (Paul Sparks) and father (Joe Don
Baker). They believe Ellis and Neckbone might know the whereabouts of Mud.
Despite the fact that Mud is murder and a fugitive on the
run from justice, I found myself rooting for him for most of the movie.
Writer/director Jeff Nichols provides only a little of Mud’s back story at a
time so that you never really know exactly who he is until well into the final
act. He has this innocence to him, almost like Ellis. Mud seems to believe the
all his problems will disappear and everything will be right in the world once
his beloved Juniper is beside him.
McConaughey really sells this role. He has never been
better. Those little nuances he has that have become laughable caricatures easily
punned by the likes of “Saturday Night Live” or “Family Guy” are virtually nonexistent
in this performance. You almost forget you’re watching Matthew McConaughey in
this role.
But its Tye Sheridan who steals the film right out from
under McConaughey. He plays the part of Ellis with the type of maturity usually
seen by seasoned veterans, not kids acting in their second feature. The film is
told through his point of view. Nichols’ screenplay is full of subplots and
they all involve Sheridan’s character. Not too many films feature one character
on screen for the entire time; that’s a bit challenging to successfully pull
off. Sheridan does it great ease here. If he plays his cards right, he should
have a long and successful career if he wants it.
It’s been awhile since we’ve seen a real solid coming of age
tale, but Jeff Nichols has made that wait worthwhile. This is my favorite movie
so far this year. The imaginative wonder of Ellis and his whole outlook on life
and love, combined with some amazing cinematic imagery from Nichols’ usual
director of photography Adam Stone, give this film a unique feel. Something
almost distinctly American.
My childhood never remotely resembled that of Ellis and
Neckbone’s, yet I found myself reminiscing about it after watching this. But
the longer I watched Ellis and Mud interact with each other, the more I wanted
to get in there and tell them their intentions are good, but sometimes the
world just doesn’t work that way. You can see yourself in this part, growing up
with the characters as the film unfolds. That’s what a great coming of age film
should do for you.
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