Mud, Jeff Nichols follow up to the criminally under-seen Take Shelter, is a strange mix between a coming of age story and and escaped con thriller. Set in a Arkansas town that's about as redneck-y as redneck gets, Mud focuses on a couple of boys in their early teens, Ellis (Tye Sheridan) and Neckbone (Jacob Lofland). The duo comes across a boat lodged in a tree thats occupied by a bum named Mud (Matthew McConaughey). Mud seems amiable to the boys, trading food for a guarantee that the boat will be theirs once he goes on his merry way to reacquaint himself with the love of his life, Juniper (Reese Witherspoon). However, once it becomes clear that Mud is being hunted by the police and a pack of bounty hunters due to a past crime, the boys strike a deal with their homeless friend: they'll get the tree-stranded boat up and running in exchange for the pistol Mud used to commit the crime he is being pursued for.
First and foremost, lets make something explicitly clear: Mud is just about as cheesy as you get. The movie never misses a chance to take emotional cheap shots at the audience, and many of the plot lines (one regarding marital troubles between Ellis's folks in particular) feel ripped straight out of Lifetime movies. However, for each overwrought groaner that misses the mark, there is a genuine moment of tenderness between characters that hits the emotional bullseye.
There are plenty of moments when Nichols should have pulled back, should have avoided the schmaltz, but they don't ruin the scenes that get the relationships between characters right on. Especially effective are the scenes between Ellis and Mud, with Ellis's admiration of gruff and mysterious Mud never being overdone. The same cannot be said for the relationship between Ellis and his feuding parents, which more often then not amps the drama up to 11 when what it needed more than anything was restraint.
Mud also overstays its welcome due to an excessively leisurely pace that includes one too many subplots. Mud has plenty of fat to be cut, from the standard teen infatuation story of a young boy dropping the "L" word after a single date to a subplot revolving around a scuba diver (played by the always awesome but tragically unnecessary Micheal Shannon) which only pays off in the oddest and least fulfilling way. Had 20ish minutes been cut, I can't help but feel it would have made for a more effective final act, but as it stands the numerous bland asides from the main story drag the film down, especially in the final act.
Despite these flaws, Mud succeeds where it really counts. The relationship between the two boys, and their interactions with Mud, are a pleasure to watch. This is largely due to the easygoing chemistry between the actors, making the strange idea of a 14 year old befriending a middle aged hobo somewhat more believable. The acting in general is great all around, McConaughey stealing the show with his detached Mud. The only week link is Witherspoon as Mud's fickle love, who seems to be sleepwalking through scenes that needed a more emotional push.
As a final note, the last half hour or so of the movie goes a little crazy. Following the lamest forced-emotion scene in the film (something that was telegraphed excessively earlier in the film), the film completely switches genres for its climactic scene. Without going into detail, the ending was more than a little jarring and felt out of place in a slow drama.
First and foremost, lets make something explicitly clear: Mud is just about as cheesy as you get. The movie never misses a chance to take emotional cheap shots at the audience, and many of the plot lines (one regarding marital troubles between Ellis's folks in particular) feel ripped straight out of Lifetime movies. However, for each overwrought groaner that misses the mark, there is a genuine moment of tenderness between characters that hits the emotional bullseye.
There are plenty of moments when Nichols should have pulled back, should have avoided the schmaltz, but they don't ruin the scenes that get the relationships between characters right on. Especially effective are the scenes between Ellis and Mud, with Ellis's admiration of gruff and mysterious Mud never being overdone. The same cannot be said for the relationship between Ellis and his feuding parents, which more often then not amps the drama up to 11 when what it needed more than anything was restraint.
Mud also overstays its welcome due to an excessively leisurely pace that includes one too many subplots. Mud has plenty of fat to be cut, from the standard teen infatuation story of a young boy dropping the "L" word after a single date to a subplot revolving around a scuba diver (played by the always awesome but tragically unnecessary Micheal Shannon) which only pays off in the oddest and least fulfilling way. Had 20ish minutes been cut, I can't help but feel it would have made for a more effective final act, but as it stands the numerous bland asides from the main story drag the film down, especially in the final act.
Despite these flaws, Mud succeeds where it really counts. The relationship between the two boys, and their interactions with Mud, are a pleasure to watch. This is largely due to the easygoing chemistry between the actors, making the strange idea of a 14 year old befriending a middle aged hobo somewhat more believable. The acting in general is great all around, McConaughey stealing the show with his detached Mud. The only week link is Witherspoon as Mud's fickle love, who seems to be sleepwalking through scenes that needed a more emotional push.
As a final note, the last half hour or so of the movie goes a little crazy. Following the lamest forced-emotion scene in the film (something that was telegraphed excessively earlier in the film), the film completely switches genres for its climactic scene. Without going into detail, the ending was more than a little jarring and felt out of place in a slow drama.