Score: ★★★★★/★★★★★
'Fool's Gold', 'Faliure To Launch', 'The Wedding Planner', and yes, the horrifically painful 'How To Lose A Guy in 10 Days' are just several of Matthew McConaughey's previous endeavors into cinema. Take note of the word "previous", because the trajectory of his acting career has changed from "How will he embarrass himself next time?" to "How will he reinvent himself in his next role?" Don't believe me? Well, take a look for yourself: Last year (2012), he starred in such critically acclaimed films as 'Magic Mike', 'The Paperboy', 'Bernie', and 'Killer Joe'. This year, not including 'Mud', he lost an incredible amount of weight for 'The Dallas Buyers Club', where he will play a man diagnosed with AIDS, and will be working with Martin Scorsese in his latest movie 'The Wolf of Wall Street'. Next year he'll star in Christopher Nolan's latest thriller 'Interstellar'. However, now, he has 'Mud', which earns the title of the best film you'll see this year.
Muds's story revolves around two young Arkansas boys, Ellis (Tye Sheridan) and his friend Neckbone (Jacob Lofland), who discover a fugitive named Mud, played by Matthew McConaughey, who is livng inside of a boat on an uninhabited island on The Mississippi River. The boys form a pact with him, not only to help him escape the island, but also help reunite hilm with the love of his life, a girl named Juniper (Reese Witherspoon), but as the boys continue to help Mud, their situation becomes increasingly more dangerous. The plot is stark and simple, and may even feel familiar at times, but it is executed differently than the films that may come to mind when watching it.
The movie is directed by Jeff Nichols, director of 'Take Shelter', and there is no one else who could have directed it better. The films is brimming with tension, but just as quickly as he builds tension, Nichols is able to lighten the mood with humour. This ablility to shift directions is the sign of a very talented filmmaker. Nichols also wrote the screenplay, which is filled with great character-driven dialogue and interesting interaction. It captures the boys' emotions very well. There is not a single moment in this film when I was bored, I was entertained in one way or another by each scene.
All the actors are on the top of their game here. Normally, I don't care for child actors, I find that either they can't act or they play incredibly obnoxious characters, however, in this film, that could not be farther from the truth. Both of the child stars are incredible, ecspecially Tye Sheridan, who starred in 2011's 'The Tree of Life'! He was excellent there, and he's excellent here. Both boys are able to hold their own against the veteran actors of the film. And, of course, there is Matthew McConaughey, who as the tiltle character takes this film and changes it from something good into something phenomenal! His performance as Mud is by far the best performance I've seen in any film this year, and he is very worthy of an Academy Award.
The supporting cast, which includes Reese Witherspoon, Michael Shannon, and Ray McKinnon, all give good performances as well. Michael Shannon, who previously worked with Jeff Nichols on Take Shelter, had a very small role in the film. He played Neckbone's uncle, but his charachter seemed there only to lighten the mood, and didn't follow the direction I excpected his charachter to take in the story. Reese Witherspoon is okay here; not terrible, not great. However, all the charachters are linked together in a story of crime, love, rejection, and betrayal that ends in an incredibly satisfying climax.
The film builds and builds to the climatic conclusion, a conclusion that might have failed in the hands of another less experienced filmmaker, but not Nichols, no, he ends the film on a very satisfying note. Very rarely does a movie get you so involved in it's story, and get you to care so much about it's charachters. All in all, this is the best movie so far this year, a film that I am happy to say is perfect, and a film that you will leave the theatre extremely satisfied.
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