There's little doubt MUD is well made. We can start with the cast. Whether it's McConaughey doing such an excellent job with oddity title character Mud that it revived his flagging career to the, as of this writing, up and coming star Tye Sheridan, to etc. etc. Well, point is everyone here gives a wonderful performance.
And thanks to Nichol's writing and careful direction, and each actor's performance, we care about all these characters, or at least relate to them. And the low key, believable, and morally grey scenario these characters are put in feels interesting and keeps your attention. Which is not to say there's not a cinematic flare to the story, but simply that it's lower key than today's glut of explosion filled blockbusters. More Jaws and less Avengers is the order of the day, with no fantastical elements to speak of.
And therein we get to the crux of the problem. Which is not the scenario itself, of two boys meeting the strangely charismatic, but wanted man Mud and having to decide whether to help him or not. But that this scenario, entirely unlike Jaws, plays itself out to an entirely unsatisfying, and even a bit off tone, conclusion.
And I mention Jaws specifically because, like this movie, it's a fairly low key movie with a bit of cinematic flare but otherwise without any particularly fantastical elements. But to demonstrate what this movie lacks I'll go ahead and spoil Jaws, wherein we build up this challenge, this mountain that is this shark. Oh sure it's one shark, but for the characters involved it is their personal mountain, and the ending battle between them and it feels like the ultimate culmination of the movie. They came to the mountain, they saw the mountain, the mountain was conquered, and we feel a sense of satisfaction and completion once it is.
By comparison, Mud almost forgets that there is a mountain. It hardly concentrates at all on Mud's situation and what it means for the kids. Instead the movie satisfies itself with building the characters in their own right and having each little side story get a huge amount of limelight. Which sounds fine until you come to the end, and the proverbial mountain comes for our characters, and you forgot it was there.
And so the mountain showing up feels odd, it doesn't feel built up much. It feels, in short, like a guest you realized you invited a week ago, but have forgot to prepare for and in fact haven't even thought about all week, and so when they show up the entire visit feels rather awkward and uncomfortable.
And with that awkward, and uncomfortable guest showing up, the movie ends. Flat, straight out ends. The mountain, the shark, killed. The conflict is resolved, and the characters go their separate ways. Oh we like the characters, or at least relate to them, plenty. But we don't feel any particular satisfaction in the end of the story. Because though the main thread of the story is at an end we were never that invested in it to begin with.
Which is why, while I enjoyed the film 95% of the time while I was watching it, I also completely forgot it existed until its director came up in movie news with his next, Midnight Special.
And thanks to Nichol's writing and careful direction, and each actor's performance, we care about all these characters, or at least relate to them. And the low key, believable, and morally grey scenario these characters are put in feels interesting and keeps your attention. Which is not to say there's not a cinematic flare to the story, but simply that it's lower key than today's glut of explosion filled blockbusters. More Jaws and less Avengers is the order of the day, with no fantastical elements to speak of.
And therein we get to the crux of the problem. Which is not the scenario itself, of two boys meeting the strangely charismatic, but wanted man Mud and having to decide whether to help him or not. But that this scenario, entirely unlike Jaws, plays itself out to an entirely unsatisfying, and even a bit off tone, conclusion.
And I mention Jaws specifically because, like this movie, it's a fairly low key movie with a bit of cinematic flare but otherwise without any particularly fantastical elements. But to demonstrate what this movie lacks I'll go ahead and spoil Jaws, wherein we build up this challenge, this mountain that is this shark. Oh sure it's one shark, but for the characters involved it is their personal mountain, and the ending battle between them and it feels like the ultimate culmination of the movie. They came to the mountain, they saw the mountain, the mountain was conquered, and we feel a sense of satisfaction and completion once it is.
By comparison, Mud almost forgets that there is a mountain. It hardly concentrates at all on Mud's situation and what it means for the kids. Instead the movie satisfies itself with building the characters in their own right and having each little side story get a huge amount of limelight. Which sounds fine until you come to the end, and the proverbial mountain comes for our characters, and you forgot it was there.
And so the mountain showing up feels odd, it doesn't feel built up much. It feels, in short, like a guest you realized you invited a week ago, but have forgot to prepare for and in fact haven't even thought about all week, and so when they show up the entire visit feels rather awkward and uncomfortable.
And with that awkward, and uncomfortable guest showing up, the movie ends. Flat, straight out ends. The mountain, the shark, killed. The conflict is resolved, and the characters go their separate ways. Oh we like the characters, or at least relate to them, plenty. But we don't feel any particular satisfaction in the end of the story. Because though the main thread of the story is at an end we were never that invested in it to begin with.
Which is why, while I enjoyed the film 95% of the time while I was watching it, I also completely forgot it existed until its director came up in movie news with his next, Midnight Special.