The brilliance of Jeff Nichols’ directorial filmography began back in 2007 with his low-budget indie, “Shotgun Stories.” Where his first film tackled the subject of family dysfunction through rivalry, his next feature, “Take Shelter,” took an unflinching look at the same matter, only through the eyes of a paranoid schizophrenic. Now Nichols is back and better than before, with a look at family dysfunction through a multi-layered yet simple narrative, “Mud.”
Nichols’ first two films featured Michael Shannon in the leading role, but busy continuing work on the outstanding HBO show “Boardwalk Empire,” Shannon steps back into a supporting role in “Mud.”
Nichols takes up a new leading man — or boy, I should say — Tye Sheridan, fresh off his first film role in Terrence Malick’s 2011 film, “The Tree of Life.” As the 14-year-old Ellis, Sheridan shines brightly on the screen. His mellow presence is nothing short of career-defining. The character of Ellis is simple enough for the audience to get along with, but as the film carries on, we find a more calm and calculating character than we originally thought we were dealing with.
To call “Mud” a fairy tale would only be touching lightly on minuscule parts of the complex aspects the film shows us. Yes, the film is family friendly (or at least the first three-fourths), but it still presents some hard moral decisions that some of us probably won’t ever face. Where fairy tales usually use cautionary attributes to give lessons, “Mud” simply sits back and lets its story unfold, with no lesson to give. It’s an interesting story partnered with a rather strange approach — pockets inside-out and nothing to hide.
We follow young Ellis, who lives with his two parents on a houseboat in Arkansas. Ellis and his best friend, Neckbone (Jacob Lofland), who’s the same age as Ellis and lives with his Uncle Galen (Shannon), set out on a mini-adventure on a boat in the Mississippi. They arrive on a small island, where Ellis discovers a rather strange site: a fishing boat suspended in the bare trees of the island, high above the ground.
They plan to make the boat a base of sorts until they find that someone else has already claimed the boat — a strange homeless wanderer, with crosses on his boot heels and a snake tattoo on his arm, named Mud (played with stark dexterity by Matthew McConaughey).
As they develop a friendly relationship with this mysterious man, helping him with food and other errands, they soon try digging into his past to figure out just who this Mud is – and what they find surprises them greatly.
Boasting fantastic performances from everybody involved, “Mud” proves to be a truly great film. Its simple-yet-layered plot parallels directly with its simple-yet-layered characters. As we peel the story back, discovering more and more about Ellis, Neckbone, and more importantly, Mud, we relish the delightful eccentricities the writing has to offer. By the time it’s over, after an emotionally draining final quarter of the film, we still find a happy ending – much like in a fairy tale.
I give “Mud” a 9 out of 10. “Mud” is currently available on DVD and Blu-ray.
