Uciekinier

An intelligent and incredibly mature film about people who think more about others than themselves. That the current redneck gang hates it, it’s just another proof of it. An excellent movie, and another superb work after Take Shelter. Standing ovation for Jeff Nichols, Matthew McConaughey and, in particular, the excellent child actors. (06.08.2013)

Each and every one of Matthew’s roles is unique. But there are certain moments that are constantly repeated. For example, swamps. Swamps just must be where Matt was born, because I can’t explain it any other way. Every movie has a swamp. Also, that Texan slang. I don’t know how that happened, but their speech denies all of the English grammar rules they taught me at school. However, despite all this, I enjoyed this movie for the entire 131 minutes. And I really wouldn’t expect it at all considering how simple it was. But what I liked most was how the creators combined the world of adults and the world of children. Those kids gave it such an interesting atmosphere that it assured me that I wasn’t watching a bad movie. As far as the ending goes, it repeats the third rule of Matt’s movies; once he’s acting, he has to be surrounded by a bunch of backwards hillbillies that would think that the word “Czechia” is an Arabian slur. The ending was completely over the top. Some headhunters are after Matt and so they kill everyone in some house, including two kids. Either I’m weird or America has crossed the threshold of humanity a long time ago. (13.04.2014)

Diverse and complex in the relationships it depicts and with multiple motifs working in harmony, Mud is a drama about love, values, friendship, trust and the consequences of bad decisions that will always catch up with us sooner or later. Some viewers may struggle to understand McConaughey’s character, but he isn’t the film’s main protagonist. Rather, he is merely a character in a story that a 14-year-old boy witnesses and becomes a part of in order to have an adventurous and rewarding life experience at the end of his adolescence. The screenplay is outstanding and Tye Sheridan turns in an excellent performance, which eventually led to his role in Spielberg’s Ready Player One. (25.04.2020)

Water is wet, the sky is blue, women have secrets, men are under pressure and the concept of good is relative. Who would be upset with that? Certainly not nature. The impressiveness of Nichols’s retelling of the adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer paradoxically lies in how little Mud differs from those classic works. At its (easily accessible) core, it is a simple, guilelessly straightforward story with characters who have a lot of time to talk. However, modern cinema teaches us to see such old-fashioned user-friendliness as some sort of betrayal. But this film is magical because it doesn’t try to betray us. Imagine a story from the ranks of those that fathers will tell to their sons as the greatest boy’s adventure of their childhood. The child’s perspective is not maintained too consistently, some of the young protagonists’ dialogue couldn’t be heard, and it isn’t confronted with an adult perspective as in Stand by Me. It all the more wants us to return to childhood in our thinking, to the time of becoming intensely aware of the opposite sex, the world of adults, the laws of nature…. Only then can we see the mythological quality of such an outwardly simple narrative, adapted to today particularly by removing the didactic subtext and relativisation of positive role models. Ellis and Neckbone go on the same journey as so many boys before them, except their bond with nature is stronger thanks to the setting. They aren’t apathetic like urban youths; they sensitively perceive what is going on around them, just as the camera takes in a running spider here, birds in flight there. The fact that it is sometimes wise to focus attention on the details becomes apparent in during the episode with snakes. Ellis and Neckbone only seemingly didn’t experience anything major. In fact, the encounter with the impenetrable guy who spouts Indian wisdom turns their view of the world upside down. Nichols doles out hints of the fundamental change that will happen in their lives by very carefully raising the stakes. Perhaps too carefully and subtly. If the narrative were not rhythmised with musical interludes, it wouldn’t be a hypnotically slow spectacle, but just tiresome. Nichols doesn’t make this film a coming-of-age story or employ a different clearly defined theme at all costs. He leaves it open to multiple possible interpretations, which prevents Mud from slipping into banality. We can take the dialogue both literally and allegorically (a lot of trash washes up from the river, the boat was launched). The atypical names of the characters (Juniper, King, May Pearl) also have mythological resonance. Of no less importance, the dual meaning corresponds to the parallel development of the children’s and adults’ versions of the same story. Perhaps childishly simple, but told in an adult way. 75% (24.04.2014)

The first girl, the first kiss, a murderer on the run, an ageing retired sniper – in short, all the usual things in a teenage boy's life. After the brilliant Take Shelter and this enjoyable piece now, we should keep an eye on the talented Jeff Nichols. Mud isn't nearly as great as Nichols's previous film, but it's pleasantly sober, the narrative flows as slowly as the river by which the story takes place, it doesn't rely on shocking twists and eye-popping moments, though perhaps I could have done without the final gunfight. Plus my favorite occasional (non)actor and playwright Sam Shepard, a great kid lead in Tye Sharidan (if he sticks with it, he's got a big future ahead of him), a believable McConaughey (who's already buried his surfboard ten fathoms under the sand for good), and Nichols's court actor Michael Shannon in what's probably his first normal role :o) A likeable indie effort, keep it up, Jeff. (11.08.2013)