Mud [DVD] [2013]

Another reviewer commented that this film has an essence of "Stand By Me" about it, and that was all it took to convince me to give it a try - without even reading any more of their review.They weren't wrong. Almost the first shot of the film features a boy who closely resembles River Phoenix in "Stand By Me", including the same haircut and similar white t-shirt. And the mood and flavour of the film continues to be similar throughout, with additional overtones of "The Client", "The Cure", and even elements of Stephen King's "IT" (the original, not the remake). Because, of course, this is just one in a long and distinguished line of coming-of-age dramas, mostly featuring boys aged between 11 and 14, mostly in bucolic rural settings, and mostly unsupervised, that can trace their origins back to Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer. It is a genre that is nearly always richly evocative, and speaks to a nostalgic place, particularly to be found in the male soul, that yearns for the freedom and adventure of ones' youth - either fondly remembered, or wishfully imagined.These specific stories, which are quintessentially American, have their cousins in every other culture around the world - wherever young boys live and play and explore the world around them in search of adventure and independence. As a Brit, my version of "Huckleberry Finn" was "Swallows and Amazons" which reflected my own culture's youthful adventures of a bygone age, and remains powerfully resonant and evocative to me even in middle age. I was lucky enough to actually have a childhood like that, so I can enjoy real memories as well as imagination.But I also grew up with the American mythology too, and when "Stand By Me" first hit the screens, it touched that special place in the centre of my soul that will forever be a 12 year-old boy. I'm particularly susceptible to such stories.Mud is one such story, and it is beautifully realised. The screenplay is honest, raw, and unflinching. It is also pleasingly male-centric, with not a single trace of post-feminist political correctness. Every featured female character is a representation of the various ways that women can hurt and abuse men, and every featured male character has been hurt or abused by a female in one way or another. Now, although this may not seem realistic or fair, it is purely because the film is entirely presented from a male perspective - which is both refreshing and deeply satisfying if, like me, you are a male who has grown up in a world where anyone who owns a penis is automatically fair game. Personally, I've had enough of watching "empowered" women "heroically" kicking men's asses in movies. And I've had enough of watching men always being the abuser. In this film, the women are all abusive in one way or another, but they are also depicted realistically and with more even-handedness than male characters would have been if their roles had been reversed. The dialogue is also intelligently written, and the two central characters - boys in their early teens - are written and depicted honestly and with great respect. There is no dumbing-down here.The cinematography is attractive and straightforward, perfectly capturing the beauty of the great outdoors without falling into any of the usual clichés. There are no smoke-filled woods with sun rays piercing through. There are no arty close-ups of barbed wire with out-of-focus red barns in the background. There are no shots of people silhouetted against the sunset. (At least, if there were, I wasn't distracted by them).Similarly, the music doesn't draw attention to itself, the editing is equally unobtrusive, and the director wisely keeps his actors from chewing-up any scenery. In short, it is good straightforward storytelling, rather than "art". And much as I enjoy "art", with a movie of this nature the story must come first.And finally, with regard to the cast, I can only say that they all did a great job. The supporting cast, most of whom bring a lot of Hollywood "baggage" with them, are sensibly kept in the background, with the exception of McConaughey who turns in a solid (and possibly quite smelly) performance. But the absolute stars of this film are the two boys, both of whom would be equally good in any of the coming-of-age movies that have ever been made. Their acting is natural, confident, nuanced, and filled with - my favourite word - verisimilitude. And the central performance from Tye Sheridan is nothing short of breath-taking. As I was watching, I was thinking "this kid is going to be a huge star". I had never heard of him before. But having since looked him up, I can see that he's already well on the way to my prediction, with an impressive body of work under his belt. I was reminded of both River Phoenix in "Stand By Me" and Brad Renfro in "The Client". And that is a little bit unsettling, based on how both of their young lives were tragically ended. So I hope that Tye Sheridan achieves the success that he so totally deserves, but without falling into the same traps.Overall, "Mud" is a strong addition to a favourite genre of mine. Not the best (hence not 5 stars) but a thoroughly well-made film.

Great 😊

After the feverish Deep South nightmares of Killer Joe and The Paperboy, here comes the calm after the storm: a relatively gentle yet not less involving rite of passage drama set upon the Mississippi. One could argue that the river is the main character, acting as both the physical location and a metaphor for the film's depiction of the human character: an unpredictable creature in a constant state of change, yet inexorably surging onward toward some kind of freedom that it mightn't yet know.One day we'll stop going on about Matthew McConaughey's resurgence and simply accept him as the actor he always promised to be. (Perhaps this time will come when he's been fully Christopher Nolanised.) In Mud, he is the mythic figure of the film's title, found upon an island by young teenage buddies Ellis (Tye Sheridan, last seen in Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life, and destined to be a star) and Neckbone (endearing newcomer Jacob Lofland). Mud employs the kids to fetch him food, as well as equipment to fix a boat. It becomes clear that Mud is making some kind of getaway from the law, and that maybe he ain't the roguish hero he seems.The film craftily plays with our expectations. We, the cynical audience, assume from the beginning that Mud is up to no good. But Ellis, starting from the angelic assumption of innate goodness, simply trusts Mud. Over the course of the film our assumptions will be dragged in one direction, while Ellis's will be dragged in another. It's a rite of passage that operates in both directions: childhood into young adulthood, where love is untrustworthy, and jaded adulthood into childhood, where love exists untainted.Ellis is not a romantic as such. He doesn't dream of a way life could be - he simply believes this is how life is. "I love you," he tells the senior he thinks is his girlfriend. "You're 14," she sneers, as if he knows nothing of love. And yet, of course, he knows love in a way that older generations can't. For grown man Mud, Ellis embodies himself at the time his love for Juniper (a stricken Reese Witherspoon) was strongest, and their friendship gives him access to that feeling, unbruised and unbattered by time.Mud is a movie about myth-making; our tendency to make myths of each other. It's really refreshing to watch a drama set in the American South without hick stereotypes. The families aren't perfect, and they're poor, but they're striving to make the best of their situation, ultimately through the efforts of familial affection. Misery porn and exploitation are conspicuous in their absence.The one moment that doesn't entirely work for me is the final act shootout. It's well-staged and tense, but feels incongruous in the context and style of the rest of the movie. Although, perhaps this is deliberate; perhaps writer-director Jeff Nichols is suggesting that, even in this age of billionaire superheroes with a billion-dollar box office, sometimes pyrotechnics and orchestral drum crashes are unwelcome gatecrashers to the cinematic party. Sometimes you want something like Mud: a film at peace with itself, full of character and poetry and nuance, full of excellent performances, and full of a very relatable, very human kind of hope.

A coming-of-age story, set on the banks of the Mississippi River. Two adventurous Arkansas boys, Ellis (Tye Sheridan) and Neckbone (Jacob Lofland), meet the mysterious Mud (Matthew McConaughey), a fugitive back in town to reconnect with his true love, Juniper (Reese Witherspoon). Ellis's life begins to change irreversibly as he takes his first tentative steps away from childhood. Mud may be the titular character but this is very much his and Ellis's story - two naive romantics who believe in love in the purest, traditional way and as a result suffer in its volatile hands. McConaughey is remarkable, emanating an eerie tranquillity that masks a burning anger - every second he's on screen, time seems to slow to the speed of his protracted metrical speech. Despite his enormous presence, it's the performance of young Tye Sheridan that really stands out for its naturalism and impressive range. Every emotion that courses through him has an intense authenticity, making every experience we share thoroughly moving.This is a sentimental film that touches on melodrama, and isn't as nuanced as it may initially appear - but is no less worthy or absorbing because of it. The quiet contemplation of the first half is transformed into something of a more traditional thriller which ultimately delivers a degree of accessibility and satisfaction that a more subtle denouement wouldn't offer. Visually `Mud' is flawless, capturing the natural scenery and earthy characters with incredibly beautiful shots, with men and boys who don't just live on the river, they're part of it. `Mud' is a deeply affecting look at the confusion and heartbreak of young love told as a timeless piece. A lyrical odyssey as enduring as the river that forms its setting.