Mud

Mud is a coming of age drama starring Mathew McConaughey, Tye Sheridan, Reese Witherspoon and directed by Jeff Nichols.

It tells the story of two 14 year old boys named Ellis and Neckbone, which I assume is his nickname as he doesn’t have another name throughout the whole movie.

They come across a boat stuck in a tree, and naturally as any 14 year old would do, they claim it for themselves as their own little tree house. That is until they discover it’s occupied by a vagrant who goes by the name of Mud. (They do have rather strange names in this movie)

What follows of course is an adventure for the boys as they discover his past and try and unite him with his lost love.

Mud was shown at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival and the Sundance Film Festival and won numerous awards as stated on the DVD cover. This is somewhat misleading which I’ll get to momentarily.

The acting is really solid, the performances in Mud are quite stellar and there is absolutely no fault here and it’s easy to see why Mathew McConaughey won an Oscar, leaving poor ol’ Leo in a dust cloud.  Even the films younger actors, Tye Sheridan and Jacob Lofland are able to convince you that their characters are real and pull you into their world.

Now this is where it becomes misleading; although the story itself is pretty decent, it is rather slow paced. Granted this is a coming of age story so we are supposed to grow and learn with these two boys but it just seems to take forever to kick off and get somewhere.

The music of the film, although it suited the movie perfectly, was just too much at times and it felt just too American.

And this is why I believe the awards are slightly misleading: To an American audience, I can understand the appeal and the appreciation, but to an international audience the same allure isn't there.

I’m not saying this is a bad movie at all; it’s just not going to be to everyone’s appeal.

So with that in Mind, Mud gets a sweet Southern 7 out of 10

Remember to click on the title to hear the audio version of this review