By M. WILLIAM SMITH
Staff Writer
Before last year, Matthew McConaughey being in a film was, with some exceptions, a pretty sure sign that the film in question wasn’t particularly good. The man spent years cultivating a specific image built upon pretty lousy romantic comedies, and though he took the occasional serious role or the side comedic part, that was where he stayed. Then last year, McConaughey expertly played on his own image in Magic Mike, was a comedic gem in Bernie, and was legitimately terrifying in Killer Joe. In a short time, he’s quickly become one of my favorite actors, choosing projects that rely on real acting prowess rather than good looks. This all leads us into his first film of 2013, Mud.
Mud is the first of McConaughey’s recent projects to really take the time to turn his character into a fully-developed person. As good as he was in those other films, he was often a supporting player in the stories, and his characters were fairly one-note (not a bad thing, just an observation). Here, he is given the center stage in which to shine, and does so with aplomb. But even here, McConaughey isn’t the protagonist, though he does drive much of the action in the film. That would be Tye Sheridan as Ellis, who discovers McConaughey’s Mud living alone on an island. Sheridan is starting to develop a pretty impressive indie film resume at a young age (he was also in Terrence Malick’s 2011 masterpiece The Tree of Life), and often matched McConaughey when acting against him. Sheridan carries the film on his shoulders, and he is more than up to the task.
The film is directed by Jeff Nichols, who has proved himself quite able to get good performances from his actors in the past (Michael Shannon’s work in Shotgun Stories and Take Shelter is really a sight to behold). Mud may be Nichols’ most accomplished work, slowly revealing several story elements that seem minor but come together beautifully in the end. It’s a modern-day Mark Twain tale, from the characters, the setting, and the imagery. Nichols’ camerawork here is significantly more dynamic here than his previous work, and the film is all the better for it. He creates a world that seems as if it’s constantly changing along with its protagonist, with the island and Mud acting as his only escape.
The most pleasant surprise here though is that the film has a sense of humor. I don’t mean to take anything away from Shotgun Stories or Take Shelter, but both were incredibly dour affairs. I can’t think of a character in either film that even cracks a smile, let alone makes a joke once in a while. With Mud, Nichols has abandoned what worked in his other films to try something new, and a bit of humor goes a long way to make that work. In addition, Mud has something that Nichols’ previous films don’t: an actual ending. Though Take Shelter has an ambiguous conclusion and Shotgun Stories kind of just stops (and both to good effect, I stress again), Mud lays out a pretty definitive conclusion, and an incredibly satisfying one at that.
Mud is a film that could serve as a benchmark in Matthew McConaughey’s career. Everything he’s done has been building up to this performance, and it is with Mud that he proudly announces a new phase in his acting career. Jeff Nichols continues to be one of the most exciting indie filmmakers working today, and that’s evident in every frame of Mud. I’ll be excited for whatever either one does next, and I hope it’s not too long before we get to see new content from them.
Final Grade: A-
