Mud DVD Review
Mud is the latest film by American Southern filmmaker Jeff Nichols who previously gave us the great Take Shelter and the overrated Shotgun Stories. Mud is his best film to date however, some critics have described it as “Badlands meets Huck Finn” and that’s not a bad description. Jeff Nichols has admitted many times in press being influenced by both Terrence Malick and Mark Twain so the description is certainly acute.
Mud is about these 2 boys Ellis and Neckbone living in Arkansas (where Jeff Nichols is from) who go on adventures around the near-by river. They hear of a boat in a tree and go beyond their normal boundaries to reach the boat. The 2 boys find a man living in the boat; he is clearly starving and asked the boys to get him some food. They comply and get him some food the day after and they asked him what’s his name, he says call me Mud (Matthew McConaughey). They keep going back and he eventually explains he shot a man who beaten up his beloved Juniper (played in great redneck fashion by Reese Witherspoon) so much she miscarried. They agree to help him get his boat out of the tree in exchange for his .45 pistol.
Ellis and Necknone eventually got Juniper at the near by supermarket. They follow her and interrupts her while she is being abused. She thanks him and he explains Mud is waiting for her. Ellis’ home life is falling apart, his parents are getting separated and their houseboat is likely to be demolished because of new local laws. Ellis also finds out the police are searching for Mud but so are some seedier people.
The film is very much a film about the end of an era. Everything in the town is changing, the houseboats are no longer allowed, the country folk are being forced into the city and the river is flooding. The film is set in no particularly time but because of the severe lack of technology you can imagine it’s the 90s which is maybe evident by Neckbone’s Fugazi t-shirt. The film also is the kind of film they no longer make, it’s more in tune in 70s filmmaking that modern filmmaking. There is no computer effects, the empathise on characters and telling a good story (in the vein of Mark Twain) and the film moves at a nice medium pace so you get to spend some real time with the characters.
The film certainly benefits from a brilliant cast. The 2 kids are simply a revelation cause as we all know casting child actors is one of the trickiest jobs cause they are often too cute or just simply can’t act. These kids however are very believable, have the chops and anything than cute. Matthew McConaughey’s career has taken a truly wonderful turn in the last few years with much meatier and darker roles than usual with this and Killer Joe, Magic Mike and Bernie and hopefully his upcoming work with Martin Scorsese and Christopher Nolan. The supporting cast is rounded out with Reese Witherspoon (in her true redneck fashion, see Freeway), Sam Shepard, Jon Don Baker and Nichol’s collaborator on all of his films the always wonderful Michael Shannon.
The film for a long time was my favourite film of the year so far it has since been dethroned. However I will be very shocked if it doesn’t end up in my top 10 at the end of the year. It’s an intelligent film with great performances, beautiful Malick esq cinematography, an smartly written script from one of the best “young” directors working at the moment. It many ways it’s not kind the film they gets made often anymore with it’s archetypal characters and old-fashioned storytelling.
★★★★★
15 / 2nd September 2013 (UK) / Dir: Jeff Nichols / Matthew McConaughey, Tye Sheridan, Jacob Lofland, Reese Witherspoon, Sam Shepard | Buy Mud: DVD
