Mud (2013)

Although better than "Take Shelter", "Mud" is still not as good, as deep or as entertaining as writer/director Jeff Nichols thinks that it is. Starring Matthew McConaughey in supposedly the best performance to come out of the McCona-sance, Nichols' slightly misogynistic plot tells the story of two boys who decide to explore an island on the Mississippi River, after one claims to have discovered a mysterious boat suspended in the trees. Once on the island they run into a man who goes by the name of Mud; a filthy, starving and very mysterious fugitive, who seems to be living on the boat. Mud elicits the boys help, in exchange for the aforementioned boat. Now, while that sounds like an interesting story, after a while the true themes of "Mud" emerge, when the film begins to play out more so as a multi-generational tale of men who fall in love with women, who prove to be their downfall.
There is a ton of sub-textual "stuff" going on here, dealing with boats as a metaphor for a man's self worth and multiple parallels concerning father and son relationships. And though sub-textual "stuff" is essentially what allows for the best films, due to Nichols' script, "Mud" comes off as more ambiguously underdeveloped than anything. And thus, its own emotional themes concerning coming of age and father and son relationships become muddled, getting lost in the lack of an intriguing story which becomes sadly less and less powerful as it progresses. And therein lies the problem with "Mud". Its foundation was constructed by a writer/director who has a nasty habit of being far too cryptic of a filmmaker for his own good.
That said, Nichols does display a slathering of beautifully constructed visuals and a few inspired lines of dialogue (mostly muttered by the profoundly underutilized Michael Shannon). And there are definitely bits and pieces of this movie, in conjunction with standout performances from both McConaughey and Tye Sheridan, who played the main child protagonist here (and reminded me of River Phoenix in "Stand by Me") that will have audiences sitting forward and taking notice.
Side Note: Reese Witherspoon is also in this movie, but doesn't really do much of anything. So, she's really not worth talking about.
Final Thought: If there is one positive thing I could say about Nichols as an up and coming writer/director, it would be that he does tend to bring out stellar performances from his stable of actors. And "Mud" is the type of film which moves forward on the backs of performances, not necessarily on plot. So, despite the predictable narrative, there is enough good here (especially in the final act) to slightly recommend this film. In fact, I think I would be hard pressed to find anybody who could outright hate "Mud". But I am still shocked at the hordes of critics who tout this as a "must see" or even award worthy.

Written by Markus Robinson, Edited by Nicole I. Ashland

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