IN a small hard-scrabble river delta community, best buddies Ellis and Neckbone, both 14, spend a lot of time on the water in a flat-bottomed tinnie. One day they discover a small motor launch that Hurricane Katrina has left high and dry in a tree. And a taciturn character who tells them his name is Mud.
This is the core of writer/director Jeff Nichols’s gentle yet intense dramatic feature. Ellis on the cusp of adolescence has an unreturned crush on May Pearl. Mud is waiting for Juniper, the light of his life, to arrive in town. Neckbone is more cautious than Ellis about most things. As well he might be, because for Ellis, Mud is a role model.
Mud is a wanted man for shooting a man who’d been monstering Juniper. His father has assembled a posse of bully boys to hunt Mud down and kill him.
The scenario melds a delightful notion of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn with the anguish of a man isolated from those he loves. The staging has verity and the drama’s moral standards show honesty and compassion. Mathew McConaughey gives a powerful portrayal of Mud. A de-glamourised Reese Witherspoon is pitiable as Juniper. Sam Shepard is impressively understated as Mud’s laconic father. Tye Sheridan as Ellis and Jacob Lofland as Neckbone have potential, if acting is what they want to do with their lives.
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