“Alright. Alright. I’m gonna shoot this shirt off…”
His name is Mud. He initially appears near his hideout – a boat in a tree – to two young teen boys with aspirations of making the deserted boat their own. Don’t worry, the film isn’t nearly as quirky as that makes it sound, nor is it is compelling as Shotgun Stories and Take Shelter, the two previous films by director Jeff Nicholls.
The two lads Neckbone and Ellis are confused. They want the boat but don’t want to take on a grown man to get it. Not this unkempt, wiry grown man with wild eyes. And a gun.
So they engage the man. What claim does he have to the boat? How did he come to be in a small crappy island in the middle of a river? Why does he have a gun? Strangely enough never ‘so why Mud?’, but then, when you’re called Neckbone that might see a bit rich.
While that mystery might never be solved, that’s where the enigma that is Mud ends. He tells the boys all of the events and occurrences that lead to his being here, and furthermore engages the lads into a bit if snooping and low key detective work.
Of course this involves a woman. A woman named Juniper (Reese Witherspoon). A woman who just happens to be staying in a hotel in the nearby small town.
Performing these small jobs brings the attention of slick and dangerous outsiders. It brings them into the orbit of the captivating and unpredictable Juniper. It brings questions from Neckbone’s relatives and Ellis’ parents (who are having problems bigger than a mysterious stranger talking to their son). It brings them to the buzz-cutter loner who is rumoured to be a cold blooded killer.
McConaughey tones down the ‘alright alright’ good old boy-isms, the young lads acquit themselves well and I can give Reese Witherspoon no higher compliment than admitting I thought ‘hey she looks like a younger, thinner, hotter Reese Witherspoon’. Well done Reese.
Despite all of the many and varied characters involved, what the film can’t bring is energy and interest. Unlike Shotgun Stories it lacks the compelling characters and the element of danger. Unlike Take Shelter it lacks the mystery and potential insanity.
The last decade has seen a genre emerge from the humble origins of America’s deep South. Winter’s Bone soared, Undertow was excellent, Beasts of the Southern Wild entranced and the afore-mentioned Shotgun Stories impressed. Mud is competent, but beneath them all, squelching somewhat admirably between their toes.
Final Rating – 7 / 10. Mud is well made, well acted and well realised, but above all it is proof that you can’t spin gold out of Mud.
