Runtime: 2 hours, 10 minutes
Rating: PG-13
Directors: Jeff Nichols
Quick Impressions:
Mud is my favorite film of 2013 so far, and it’s not even close. This week, so many movies that looked intriguing came to a theater near me, but I picked this one for two reasons: 1) Matthew McConaughey impressed me so much last year in Bernie, Magic Mike, and Killer Joe, and 2) A one-sentence description of the film made it sound like the best coming-of-age-while-aiding-a-fugitive-on-an-island story since Huckleberry Finn (and despite its tonal inconsistencies and controversial content, I really love Huck Finn. It is the great American novel).
To my pleasant surprise, the movie completely exceeded my expectations because it drew me into its rich, compelling world from scene one, held my attention throughout, and reduced me to tears on more than a few occasions. (Full disclosure, I cry really easily. In fact, I remember tears streaming down my face just the other night while I watched a cartoon with my four-year-old daughter although I’m suddenly remembering that was The Lion King, so never mind.)
The Good:
This is really just a good, old-fashioned, crowd-pleasing movie. (In that way, it has a lot in common with 42, though Mud feels at the same time more real and more fantastical than that film.) It really does share a lot of common ground with Huck Finn, including pretty dramatic tonal inconsistencies. At some moments, we’re steeped in realism, palpable, relatable, gritty, familiar. At other times—like the ending for instance—we feel like we’re watching a fantasy, something that ought to be true but probably wouldn’t actually play out that way in real life.
Some people will probably find Mud too hokey and contrived to be a great film, but I think it’s aware of what it is. It’s hard to believe it’s not to some degree modeling itself on Huckleberry Finn because it seamlessly blends realism and fantasy so effectively, presenting the entire story from the point of view of a fourteen-year-old. The protagonist’s adolescence more than explains the tonal changes and uncanny coincidences. Ellis is experiencing so many pivotal things for the first time, and he’s also clearly coping with his parents’ marital difficulties by exploring his feelings about what’s going on at home through a thematically related adventure of his own.
Like I said, some people might think this sounds a little too contrived and controlled, but I personally find the film extremely well written with both an effective story and memorable dialogue. Several moments really resonate emotionally—at least, they did for my husband and me. He particularly identified with the, “I ain’t no townie” line, and I spent the last twenty minutes or so bawling in sympathy, catharsis, and sheer anticipation.
Also to the script’s credit, most of the characters are inherently likable and compelling. I’m always impressed when somebody writes and directs a film and ends up with a great movie, so I’ll be watching for more of Jeff Nichols’s work. With Take Shelter and Mud under his belt already, he’s off to a most impressive start.
That Ellis is one amazing young man, and I love the way that the audience goes along for the ride, accompanying him on a life-defining adventure that helps him work through interior turmoil. What a courageous kid! He has tremendous character and a surprisingly strong sense of himself and his role in the world, even when he’s going through puberty and his home life is in upheaval beyond his control. His willingness to punch bullies in the face with no hesitation really won me over (though I was also pleased that the movie followed through by showing the problem with taking these impulsive moves too far).
And Neckbone is a perfect companion. He’s incredibly funny, seems really genuine, and best of all, actually is Ellis’s friend. At this point, I’m beyond tired of seeing movies in which the mild-mannered adolescent boy in the family is inexplicably paired up with the most obnoxious, borderline abusive best friend on earth. I’ve seen that dynamic in far too many movies recently. But Ellis and Neckbone really are friends. They honestly like and look out for each other. There’s no jealousy or treachery lurking beneath the seemingly placid surface of their relationship. They’re just friends who hang out together because they enjoy one another’s company, and each treats the other with decency and compassion. It’s a refreshingly simple and positive dynamic.
The cast is universally excellent. The performances of the young actors playing Ellis and Neckbone are particularly crucial, and both Tye Sheridan and Jacob Lofland are amazing. In fact, on the way home from the theater, I kept thinking, Tye Sheridan was really impressive as Ellis. I haven’t seen such great, natural acting from a kid since The Tree of Life. Then just now while exploring his filmography, I discovered that he was one of the kids in The Tree of Life! So there you have it—Tye Sheridan is a great young actor!
And Matthew McConaughey—wow! In the past year, my opinion of him as an actor has completely changed—and dramatically improved. I never had anything against McConaughey, but I felt like his charisma and appeal somehow didn’t work on me, and most of his projects didn’t interest me much. Recently, that’s all changed. He’s very good as Mud, and it’s refreshing (and encouraging) to see him playing a nuanced “good” character since last year he played so many menacing types (some layered, some not).
As Ellis’s parents, Ray McKinnon and Sarah Paulson are so convincing in their characters that you want to strangle them both. (Well, not really, but good grief, they need to take a parenting class or something! They’re so self-focused and determined to undermine one another’s credibility as a loving parent.) The characters are realistic and frustrating, and the actors turn in performances that seem effortlessly authentic.
Young Bonnie Sturdivant is charming, annoying, and very real as May Pearl.
Playing Neckbone’s cool uncle, Michael Shannon is barely in the movie. (Presumably he’s in the cast at all because he worked with the director on Take Shelter.) In the few brief scenes where he appears, however, Shannon is fantastic, both amusing and convincing in the character.
Sam Shepard is great in a winning role, and Joe Don Baker manages to be convincing in his part, which is pretty impressive considering the character is practically larger than life.
With so many talented actors and supporting actors, it’s all too easy to forget about Reese Witherspoon. She’s quite good, too, though her role seems less challenging than some. (I’m not trying to insult Witherspoon by implying that she’s playing herself. I’m just saying that she’s a talented actress, and the role doesn’t necessarily require an actress of her caliber.)
One thing that I do love about the movie, though, is the treatment of Witherspoon’s character. Juniper is the kind of woman who could be demonized or marginalized (or on the flip side, idealized), but here she’s a nuanced, realistic, multi-dimensional character.
Best Scene Visually:
In terms of visuals, Mud is nowhere near as self-conscious as films like Spring Breakers or The Place Beyond the Pines. To be clear, I’m not trying to insult those films. On a visual level, both of them succeed spectacularly, but their carefully constructed scenes are trying to do more than simply advance the story. Mud,on the other hand, takes a more natural, traditional, story-oriented visual approach. The goal of each well-set scene seems to be total emersion in the world the young protagonists and Mud inhabit.
And I have to say, this strategy really worked. Watching the opening scene unfold, I was hooked immediately. Watching the boys scramble around in the open countryside really made me wish I were there—with my camera. I loved the contrasting colors of the junkyard rust and the green trees and brush. Everything looked very realistic and ordinary, but at the same time, vibrant, unique, and full of life.
Visually, the most memorable moment is probably the part with the snakes.
Funniest Scene:
The conversation between Neck’s Uncle Galen (Michael Shannon) and Ellis is just priceless, particularly Ellis’s response when Neck asks him what they talked about. The whole “Help Me, Rhonda” thing really works, too. It’s a joke, but it’s not only a joke. It’s also a very serious underlying theme.
Another scene that definitely gets your attention is Joe Don Baker’s group prayer. Good grief! It’s hard to know how to react to that.
Best Action Sequence:
The confrontation between Ellis and Mud blends perfectly into the heightened, breath-taking urgency of what happens next. Also great, of course, is the unexpected way the last big scene at Ellis’s house plays out.
Best Scene:
It’s pretty hard not to cry during the last part of this movie—if you’re me, anyway. At my side, my husband didn’t seem to be crying, but he also found the ending thoroughly gripping. For me, the whispered conversation in Ellis’s bedroom hit a high note that I had been waiting for some time to hear.
The Negatives:
Like Huckleberry Finn, the tone is all over the place. By the end, you’re very aware you’re watching a fantasy of sorts. For me that wasn’t a problem, but I’m a big fan of “a boy and his dog” type stories, and this is basically just a variation on that theme, “a boy and his fugitive.”
I was thinking of writing, “It’s a lot like Huckleberry Finn except there’s less of an emphasis on racial tension.” Then I realized—as far as I can remember, every single character who appears in this movie is white. In fact, this is probably the least racially diverse cast I’ve seen in a movie all year. I may be forgetting somebody, but it’s no one with any significant lines. The boys are white. Ellis’s parents are white. Neckbone’s uncle is white. His uncle’s girlfriend is white. Mud is white. All his friends and enemies are white. The girl Ellis likes is white, and so are all her friends (that I can recall). Of course, Reese Witherspoon is white. Now that I’m pointedly thinking about it, I’m pretty sure I do remember a couple of non-white people in the crowd at the hospital. But I’m not positive. I’m remembering the stunned face of one elderly African American man, but I’m half afraid my own imagination is just generating that now, trying to be helpful.
I’m not sure that lack of diversity is a failing of the movie. After all, it does take place in a very small, particular, insulated community in Arkansas. Maybe that’s simply an accurate depiction of the community dynamic in that area, but it is unusual for a film made in 2013. I do remember that early on Mud gives a speech about a guy, saying something like, “I called him Native American, but he was really Mexican.” Other than that, it’s like different ethnicities don’t exist in this film. Is that truly a negative? Maybe not. But it’s very thought-provoking, especially because of the debt the spirit of the movie owes to Huck Finn.
This movie also has a lot in common with Great Expectations (and not just in the area of feeding a man running from the law. There’s also a whole big thing about doomed relationships and women who toy with men). But the romanticization of the boy-befriending-convict scenario is worth pausing to consider. In film or literature, any time a boy makes friends with a fugitive, it’s a relatively positive thing that leads to life-changing adventures. (That’s not just true in classic novels. The Kevin Costner film A Perfect World is another good example that springs immediately to mind, and there are many others.) Fugitives in movies are always so benevolent. How would young men seeking role models ever get along without their mentorship and guidance?
In real life, though, should fourteen-year-old boys be encouraged to make friends with strange men who carry guns and are on the run from the law? Surely not every real-world fugitive has a heart of gold, and this film is definitely guilty of perpetuating a myth that might lead gullible youths to put their lives in jeopardy. (Okay, that’s definitely a more melodramatic statement than I’d intended, but I do think that continuing to perpetuate the fictional convention that everyone on the run from the law is actually a better person than the mundane regulars in one’s own circle is a bit irresponsible and problematic.)
Another slight gripe of mine is that the movie’s last act takes a bit too much time. It really drags its feet as it seems to set up the ending. The weird thing is, the ending doesn’t really need all the set up. Surely the final third could be trimmed just a bit to pick up the pace a little. For me, though, this wasn’t too big a problem since the end of the movie delivers such an emotional punch. The last scene in Ellis’s house is so good that I’d forgive (and practically forget) just about any missteps leading up to that.
Overall:
I really loved Mud, and so did my husband. It’s not so much a movie you appreciate, as one you just enjoy, and those are always the best kind. The film captivated me from the opening scene, and soon I was lost in the world of the story, compelled to watch on and on by vivid, authentic characters who quickly made me care about them. Even though tonally, the film veers between realism and fantasy, the whole movie is pleasurable to watch and features a solid script, an interesting setting, and great performances by the two young leads, Matthew McConaughey, and the rest of the outstanding cast. So far, Mud is my favorite film of 2013 by a mile.