Headline

Coming midway through Matthew McConaughey’s Acting RenaissanceTM, “Mud” lovingly creates a nostalgic view of the American South, drenched in golden sunset hues. It’s a gently paced coming-of-age drama telling the story of two young teenagers, Ellis and Neckbone, from DeWitt, Arkansas who have found a derelict boat stuck halfway up a tree on a small Mississippi River island. Intending to claim it, they instead discover that the boat is being used as a home by a strange man who calls himself Mud.

Mud strikes a deal with the youngsters: he will give them the boat if they help him while he stays on the island. Meanwhile, Ellis’ parents are heading for divorce and with it, the destruction of Ellis’ home, an old houseboat which will be demolished by the town council once it is no longer occupied. Despite discovering Mud is a fugitive from the law, the boys help him to restore the boat and try to reunite him with his ex-girlfriend Juniper (Reese Witherspoon) and find themselves caught up in an old fashioned family feud between Mud and the man he killed.

With a similar feel to “Stand By Me”, “Mud” also owes a great deal to Mark Twain’s tales of Huckleberry Finn, with Ellis & Neckbone taking the roles of Huck and Tom Sawyer while McConaughey’s fugitive Mud fulfils the role of Jim. Writer/ Director Jeff Nichols lovingly layers details and subplots around Mud’s central quest to reunite with Juniper and gives Ellis (Tye Sheridan) a richly detailed emotional journey as he deals with the disintegration of his family, unrequited love and the complexities of his relationship with Mud driving the story forward.

In “Mud”, Nichols has created something of a love letter to his home state of Arkansas, fondly capturing a slightly rose-tinted view of the culture and people who populate the region. The use of a steadicam for filming helps create a sense of intimacy and immediacy, allowing us to follow the characters into the cramped locations and remote areas of the shores of the Mississippi. Blessed with a strong cast, it’s an absorbing, sweet and rewarding character-driven drama which deftly manages to avoid becoming sappy or sentimental.

mud review
Score 7/10


Hi there! If you enjoyed this post, why not sign up to get new posts sent straight to your inbox?

Sign up to receive a weekly digest of The Craggus' latest posts.

We don’t spam! Read our privacy policy for more info.

logo

Related posts

Professor Marston And The Wonder Women (2017) Review

Professor Marston And The Wonder Women (2017) Review

Professor Marston And The Wonder Women doesn’t bind itself to the truth in search of a love story It may be that you’d need the Lasso of Hestia itself to separate truth from speculative fiction when it comes to “Professor Marston And The Wonder Women”. Presented as a true story...

Kubo And The Two Strings (2016) Review

Kubo And The Two Strings (2016) Review

I defy the Moon King himself to dispute my Kubo And The Two Strings Review Breathtakingly beautiful, "Kubo And The Two Strings" - Laika’s latest stop motion animation - is a dazzling, inspired medley of Japanese and Chinese folklore and a joyous celebration of the power and...

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) Review

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) Review

There and back again. Well, at least part of the way there. Returning to Middle Earth should feel like slipping into a well-worn cloak, but The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey arrives with a different energy. This is not the brooding, weighty journey of The Lord of the Rings; this is a...

Salem’s Lot (1979) Review

Salem's Lot (1979) Review

Salem's Lot is a vampire tale to get your teeth into! There are few of Stephen King’s books I’ve read more often than “Salem’s Lot”. There’s something so perfect about the mix of the gothic sexual horror of vampire lore and the petty intrigues of small-town American life and King...

Friday The 13th (1980) Review

Friday The 13th (1980) Review

It's tacky and it's spooky, and also kind of kooky but still I take a looky at Friday The 13th Created intentionally to cash in on the audience response to John Carpenter’s HALLOWEEN released two years previously, FRIDAY THE 13TH ended up becoming every bit as iconic as the movie whose...

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2018) Review

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2018) Review

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri proves it pays to advertise. Imagine a world where nothing and nobody adheres to a neatly binary system of good and bad and life is messy and compromised. It’s this real-world untidiness which lies at the beating heart of “Three Billboards...

Skyscraper (2018) Review

Skyscraper (2018) Review

People who seize control of glass houses shouldn’t throw The Rock. Possibly one to avoid if you’re pyrophobic and, indeed, acrophobic, “Skyscraper” sees Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson’s security consultant tackle a towering inferno with a plucky, die-hard attitude. Injured when a hostage...

Bridge Of Spies (2015) Review

Bridge Of Spies (2015) Review

A good man goes to [prevent] war in Spielberg's Bridge Of Spies In these troubled times, America and the world could do worse than to look to the pages of history for some salutary lessons on how to deal with the current volatility we live with. It is serendipitous, then, that Steven...