Catch the Mystery, Catch the Drift

Mud

*** out of ****

Directed by: Jeff Nichols

Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Tye Sheridan, Jacob Lofland, Sam Shepard and Reese Witherspoon

Running time: 130 minutes

Ellis and Neckbone, two young teen boys from Arkansas, find solace and adventure while motoring through the bayou by their homes in Mud. The boys, played superbly by young actors Tye Sheridan (The Tree of Life) and Jacob Lofland (in a fiery debut), have a camaraderie that recalls the spark of friendship between two other young boys who traversed the Mississippi River just as freely: Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.

Neckbone is the feistier, more foul-mouthed boy, demanding of others so that he can have his youthful thrills (he would be Tom). Ellis, meanwhile, is more introspective and compassionate, a Huckleberry type that searches for the good in others. However, neither boy knows what to think of a mysterious man marooned on a nearby island named Mud (played by Matthew McConaughey).

Mud is a sunburnt and mossy-haired drifter who lives in a motorboat stuck in a giant tree. He walks around with crosses nailed in his boot heels to mark territory, a .45 pistol in his back pocket and a giant snakebite crevassed in his side. He makes a deal with Ellis and Neckbone to give them shelter in his tree-house boat if they bring him food from the mainland.

Mud is the third feature from Take Shelter writer/director Jeff Nichols, an exciting voice of independent cinema who steeps his stories in rustic, rural America; in places where people mutter but do not quite speak. He is especially good working with young actors, as Sheridan and Lofland give layered, naturalistic turns as the adventurous protagonists.

While Shelter was a gripping psychological thriller and character study, Mud is a mythic, coming-of-age throwback. Nichols reconnects with Shelter actor Michael Shannon (who is hardly onscreen, a shame given his usual intensity) and that film’s cinematographer Adam Stone, who delivers the same crisp images of man interacting with the forces of nature.

As the title character, McConaughey continues to revive his career with mesmerizing portrayals of characters with charisma and dark secrets (like Killer Joe and The Lincoln Lawyer). His surly renegade, dripping with Southern-fried nuggets of wisdom, stands as a counterpart for the idealistic Ellis, who is searching for love and freedom amidst tumultuous adolescence, with his parents divorcing and a crush on a popular girl a few years older.

Sheridan, whose first role was as Brad Pitt and Jessica Chastain’s middle son in The Tree of Life, gives a shattering performance of pubescent rage, confusion and discovery. Less memorable is Reese Witherspoon, playing against type as Juniper, a promiscuous ex-girlfriend of Mud’s who pledged to meet him on the island.

Of the various subplots within the film, the one that lacks the most momentum and interest is of Mud and Juniper’s mangled relationship, and Witherspoon is out of place in the role. Otherwise, Mud has an impressive ensemble, including Sam Shepard as a disgruntled father figure for the title character.

Nichols’s script gives the wide ensemble, even what remains of Ellis and Neckbone's families, small stories. The supporting characters are not just placards to spur the main characters into action, but have desires and conflicts of their own that help to colour the film’s wider fabric.

Nichols nods to the drunks, sharp shooters and feuding families that populated Mark Twain’s tales of boyhood coming-of-age. He fills Mud with the same grit as those American classics, delivering an old-fashioned yarn of self-discovery, bolstered by excellent performances and vivid, textured characters.