“Mud” written and directed by Jeff Nichols

By on June 6, 2013

film icon  Dan Walker on Film

 

 

 

 

 

Writer/Director:

Jeff Nichols (Take Shelter)

Cast:

Matthew McConaughey (“Dazed and Confused”, “Amistad”, “The Lincoln Lawyer”)

Reese Witherspoon (“Election”, “Legally Blonde”, Best Actress Oscar for “Walk the Line”)

Sam Shepard (“Frances”, “The Right Stuff”, “All the Pretty Horses”)

Tye Sheridan (“The Tree of Life”)

Jacob Lofland (no previous acting credits)

Michael Shannon (“Revolutionary Road”, “Take Shelter”, and he’s the reason I’m going to watch “Man of Steel”)

Joe Don Baker (“Walking Tall”, “The Natural”, “Cape Fear”, “Mars Attacks!”)

Running Time:  130 Minutes

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Mud posterI haven’t seen a movie in a theatre since I moved to the Hudson Valley at the end of January.  That’s because I constantly have projects around the new house and property to keep me busy.  Also, there haven’t been many movies to draw me to a theatre so far this year and the closest movie house(1), where I watched “Mud”, is seventeen country road miles away.  I didn’t choose the theatre for its proximity, however.  I chose it because it was playing one of two movies I wanted to see:  this one and “The Great Gatsby”.  I like popcorn movies (like the new “Star Trek” and “Iron Man” sequels), but those aren’t the kind of movies I like reviewing because of their emphasis on effects. (2)  As I was watching “Mud”, it occurred to me that I was in a very small town where everyone might know each other’s business watching a movie set in a very small town where everyone might know each other’s business.  It was the first time I’ve experienced that phenomenon and it took a little away from the escapism you expect from watching a movie and, at the same time, gave me a connection to its setting.

River Phoenix and Wil Wheaton in “Stand by Me”

I’ll summarize the feel of the movie by saying it has elements of Rob Reiner’s 1986 “Stand by Me”, David Cronenberg’s 2005 ”A History of Violence” and, especially, Billy Bob Thornton’s 1996 “Sling Blade”.

Set in the South and similar to “Stand by Me”, the movie starts with young friends Ellis (Sheridan) and Neckbone (Lofland, whose haircut made me immediately think of River Phoenix) finding something unusual,  which becomes a focus of the movie .

Sheridan and Lofland

 

In this case, it’s a boat in a tree, presumably left there by a flood, which they find exploring a small island on the Mississippi.  They come to find the boat has a tenant named Mud (McConaughey), who is on the run from something or someone.

 

 

Some of the film’s similarities to “Slingblade”:

– A slow, gritty, southern setting

– A main character whose outcast status/existence is the result of a murder

– A child who befriends the main character, despite having more reasons to avoid him than befriend him

– An older, revered actor (Shepard/Duvall) who plays the father figure of the main character (Mud/Carl), although the relationships are different

– A twangy, minimal score similar to the more lush and atmospheric one Daniel Lanois did for “Sling Blade”

Ellis, who befriends Mud, has a lot going on for such a young kid.  Besides nurturing his new friendship and involving himself in Mud’s life, his parents are divorcing and he hopes to make an older girl in his town his girlfriend.  Like Oprah Winfrey’s character Sofia in “The Color Purple”, Ellis never meets a face he doesn’t want to punch.  Four times he punches an older-to-much-older guy – each time because of their interaction with a female  – and three times sends them flying.  The only reason the fourth guy he punches doesn’t move much is because he’s sitting in a car.  He punches all these guys so quickly and instinctively it happens before you know it’s going to happen.  It seems he reacts that way because he has such a strong sense of what’s right and wrong but there is also probably some anger because of all the intense things going on around him.

Reese Witherspoon as Juniper

I generally avoid giving away too much of a plot but I really have to minimize divulging story specifics here because there’s so much going on.  It’s not just the circumstances/ events themselves that are interesting but the authentic way they’re depicted.  The father (Baker) and brother of the man Mud killed hire bounty hunters to find and kill Mud and are part of that posse themselves.  The killing occurred because Mud’s lifelong crush, Juniper (Witherspoon, effective as the town’s constantly leaving-and-returning skank) was being abused by a guy.  Mud’s history is that of repeatedly saving Juniper from abusive men and it doesn’t seem to faze him that Juniper – cheap, with self-esteem issues and validating herself by the number of guys she sleeps with – won’t settle down with him.  An extreme case of the blindness of love and, ultimately, “you don’t know what you got ‘til it’s gone.”

mud 3Ellis is the heart of the story and Sheridan is more than convincing in his almost-nonstop and diverse scenes, many of which are situations a normal (not a word I like to use but you know what I mean) kid would hesitate to take part in, much less assert himself on.  By contrast, Lofland as Neckbone conveys a more cautious, practical, self-preservationist, always-an-eye-on-an-exit outlook but with the willingness, ability and resourcefulness to step up when he has to in order to help whoever is in need of help, especially Ellis.  Neckbone doesn’t need to look for action, drama and excitement; all he has to do is hang around Ellis.  An excellent example of a symbiotic friendship.

Shepard’s character’s history – a mystery to Ellis established early on – as a CIA killer isn’t insignificant and the role doesn’t allow Shepard to do much other than be grouchy and weather-worn/world-weary. (3)  All the acting in the movie is good and believable – I really liked how Ellis’ parents prepared for their separation while monitoring everything Ellis does out of necessity – and the subplots interweave well. 

One particularly well-written and well-acted scene is where Ellis immediately uses a bad romantic experience of his own to explain (first with his fist – this kid really punches hard – then with words) to Mud the root of Mud’s own personal problems.  The dialogue involving the separation of Ellis’ parents is also well thought-out and delivered.  Even though his role is minimal, I list Baker because his presence helps anchor the movie with an actor we’re very familiar with.  McConaughey, who I don’t like for no rational reason, couldn’t have done a better job, as he did with “The Lincoln Lawyer”.  I need to get past his beefcake status, the pot/bongos thing and his misguided friendship with Lance Armstrong and acknowledge this guy is a good actor.

Michael Shannon as Zod in the upcoming “Man of Steel”

 

It’s nice seeing Shannon, perpetually on the verge of snapping in both “Revolutionary Road” and “Take Shelter”, less crazy and more grounded in the smaller role of Neckbone’s mussel-diving uncle.  I didn’t realize they even used those big underwater helmets that look like oil barrels that require a pump on a boat for oxygen anymore.  Or within the last 50 years.  I can’t wait to see Shannon as the villain in the new Superman movie. 4  His low-profile status with most of the public will evaporate immediately when that movie comes out.

I was going to include the Coen Brothers 2010 “True Grit” as a movie “Mud” shares similarities with but it really just has one and it’s a significant one, especially for people who dislike snakes.  There are several snake scenes in the movie.  And the scenes have multiple snakes in them, not just one.  And they’re not just snakes, they’re venomous snakes.  And it’s not just multiple venomous snakes, there’s a scene where multiple venomous snakes slither around a boy after he falls into a creek and gets knocked unconscious.  And, no,  I’m not going to put up a picture of snakes.

Ending spoiler alert:

In contrast to the straight-forward way so many of the movie’s tough scenes are handled, “Mud” Hollywood-ends its way out of itself.  I guess seeing Shepard’s character smile at the end gives him dimension and the movie a life-affirming message.  It’s just as well; there are so many ways we can be bummed out by what’s going around us I’m OK with sacrificing story integrity for feeling good when I leave a movie theatre.

DPW

June 6, 2013

(1)    A place called The Moviehouse that, with its blacked-out windows and four rows of separate chairs in the room I was in, seemed to be exactly that; a big converted house.  I watched the movie by myself, which was similar to watching movies on my basement 10-foot screen but with somewhat better/bigger picture and sound.  Having a projector is another reason I haven’t felt pressure to see a movie in a theatre house.

(2)   Even as I say I like watching big-budget action/sci-fi movies, I’m getting a little tired of all of them predictably resorting to super-high-altitude action to put us on the edge of our seats. They should be more creative in their writing.  Besides, I’m acrophobic but I still think my point is valid.

(3)     Whenever I think of or see Shepard, I remember him being quoted as saying “Woody Allen is a piss-poor director of actors”, which you can hear at around 8:33 in this clip of an interview with Allen.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5iqa0o7ojw

In looking up the quote and watching this interview, I feel less negative toward Shepard, especially since it was regarding one of the few Woody Allen movies I couldn’t watch in its entirety, “September” (another was “Interiors”).  Allen shot the movie with Shepard, didn’t like how it turned out then re-shot it, replacing Shepard with Sam Waterston, another good actor but with a different presence entirely.  I’m resentful of “September” myself and I had nothing to do with its making (or watching, as it turns out).

hannahIn delayed defense of Allen, I’m pretty sure Oscar Winners Diane Keaton (“Annie Hall”), Michael Caine (“Hannah and her Sisters”), Mira Sorvino (“Mighty Aprohodite”), Dianne Wiest (“Hannah and her Sisters” and “Bullets over Broadway”),  and Penelope Cruz (“Vicki Christina Barcelona”), as well as those actors he guided to Oscar nominations and even those he didn’t, would disagree with Shepard’s statement.

I’ve been waiting for decades to vent about that Shepard quote.  Now that I have, my resentment is gone.  It’s not too late for the two to collaborate again.  A comedy this time around wouldn’t be a bad idea.

 

Frame from a 1960’s issue of “Legion of Super Heroes”

 

4   Having been an avid reader of both Marvel and DC comics as a kid, I’m not sure why they limit all the Superman movie settings – once they get past his birth and escape from Krypton – to Metropolis (or even earth) and the present.  He could travel anywhere and to any time he wants.  I guess the Legion of Super Heroes comics – which have an interplanetary theme and are set far into the future – weren’t as popular with other people as they were with me.  In that environment, the possibilities for characters, storylines and situations are limitless.  That last Superman movie with Brandon Routh (not back for this new one) was well-done but added nothing different from what we’ve already seen in movies.  I guess the limitations preventing more interesting superhero movies – which certainly don’t include special effects – lie in the imaginations of writers and studio green-light committees and the money that investors are willing to risk on them.   If they started making those movies – which “Thor” touched on – the whole genre would be blown wide open.  Basically, you’d be merging the concept of super heroes with that of “Star Wars”.  One of the elements that makes the “Star Wars” universe – for lack of a better word – interesting and truly escapist is that there is never any acknowledgement of Earth’s existence.

About Dan Walker

As part of an Air Force family, I went to elementary school in Great Falls, MT, junior high in Cheyenne, WY and high school and college in the San Francisco Bay Area, graduating from San Francisco State University with a degree in business. I was fortunate to have worked for great companies in Silicon Valley (Oracle Corp) and Hollywood (Miramax Films). I also lived and worked (primarily in financial services, which has no great companies) for eight years in Manhattan, New York City. I now reside in New York's beautiful Hudson Valley.

5 comments on ““Mud” written and directed by Jeff Nichols

  1. Scott on said:

    The comparisons to the “slow, gritty southern settings” actually peaked my interest and curiosity to the film, as I have not ventured out to see a film since winter, and may seek it out during this weekend’s rain. I enjoyed many of the 60’s southern movies, such as “Cool Hand Luke” and “In the Heat of the Night”, and look forward to seeing Joe Don Baker again. Mcconaughey was terrific in U-571, but have not had much interest in him with the silly romantic comedies.

  2. John Necci on said:

    I was a big fan of the Legion of Super Heroes – I have not thought about them in a long time – thanks for the memory.

    I like the way you weaved together the movie theater in the town where you saw the movie to the town in the movie. I will place this movie on my list.

    Thank You

    John

  3. Scott Staub on said:

    As someone who grew up collecting DC and some Marvel comics, and still collects them, the Legion of Super Heroes was my all time favorite.

    What I especially like about this review are the many references to other movies, giving me and I hope other readers, familiar handholds, to compare Mud to. Dan’s excellent attention to detail also helps in creating the movie in one’s mind. I’m not sure I’ll go see Mud, but if I don’t, I know I’m making an informed decision thanks to Dan’s review.

    • Daniel Walker on said:

      Looks like we might have the beginning of a Legion of Super Heroes movement. We’d have to find someone to write a script, though. I’m so lacking in creativity my Etch-A-Sketch circles have distinguishable beginnings and ends. One bummer that I learned while working in Hollywood is that there are really great scripts out there that won’t be produced because no one is willing to take the risk in making them. I got to read a lot of scripts because different departments would give them to me to get my feedback. David Benioff’s “Troy” screenplay was much better than the movie but, in reading it, you knew making the movie would be a big undertaking. Andrew Niccol’s “The Truman Show” script was also much better than the movie, which I actually appreciate more each time I see it. I only read the first 20 pages of “Gangs of New York” because I objected to the stereotypes of Irish people doing nothing but drinking and fighting. I found the movie similarly objectionable, especially the hard-to-believe idea of Leonard DiCaprio going toe-to-toe with Daniel Day Lewis. I have an hour-longer version somewhere before they added the CGI and other effects and music score and polished up the sound, color and final editing. Interesting in terms of seeing a work in progress but hard to follow otherwise.

  4. Jeremy Walker on said:

    Another great review, Thanks Dan!

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