Mud Review
After seeing the brilliant 'Take Shelter' last year, I had high hopes for Jeff Nichols' new production, and I'm glad to say that I wasn't disappointed.
The film is a slice of deep south Americana, a film that captures the raw and real America that Nichols is known for, and that many films fail to do. The plot surrounds two boys who go on an adventure to an island in the middle of their lake, they then find Mud. Mud is a fugitive, a fact that the boys don't know on first meeting him, they help Mud out by bringing him food, which quickly escalates into a more serious and life threatening situation. The main character is arguably Ellis, played by Tye Sheridan, and is one of the boys who discovers Mud. Ellis is central to the whole theme of the film, that theme being the idea of love, as Ellis' parents are getting a divorce he looks to Mud's relationship with his Girlfriend (played by Reese Witherpoon) as a sign that love can exist. Some argue that this film is Misogynistic, and I would be inclined to agree to an extent, Nichols plays with the idea that women are the downfall of men, with all of the contact with women in the film leading to disaster, including Mud's relationship. While the film does push forward ideas that I wholeheartedly disagree with, I found the ideas to fit well within the film, and work within the realistic and gritty deep South setting, a setting in which these ideas are perhaps a bit more commonplace. The narrative then is a well written, well structured one, a narrative which is paced just right and makes the film a joy to watch. .
The cinematography is absolutely stunning, using a mixture of fixed angle shots and a more shaky cam style, reminding me of a much less nauseating Beasts of the Southern Wilds. The on location shooting really helped with immersion, and by the end of the film I felt like I knew the place like the back of my hand. On the performance front there are some absolute knockouts, with Matthew McConaughey pulling out all the stops to prove he is a force to be reckoned with within Hollywood, his powerful, yet restrained performance as Mud is clearly the standout, and should get him some nominations later this year. Tye Sheridan as Ellis is another astounding performance, again proving him to be an immense talent off the back of his Tree of Life breakout, giving a raw and emotion driven portrayal of an Innocent kid going through a divorce.
Nichols has managed to blow me away yet again, Mud is a masterpiece in dialogue driven cinema, that by the end packs a substantial emotional punch. Its a film which represents its setting realistically without airbrushing over the imperfections, and subsequently comes off as a genuine and powerful. Mud is this year's Winters Bone, and anyone with a taste in great films should most definitely go and see it.
9/10
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