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This is a movie that stays with you. It's a real movie about people, and a place--not car chases and explosions. I don't agree with the mixed reviews and complaints about the length of the movie. Matthew McConnahey is well-cast. All of the actors do a good work; Reese Witherspoon, Sam Sheppard. Tye Sheridan and Jacob Lofland do a great job playing the child characters. The Mississippi river is like a character in the movie, which evokes Huckleberry Finn, as others have noted. The settings are magnificent. In a sea of manufactured movies, it's nice to see something that was crafted by human beings. I would recommend this movie to those who are interested.

The audience in the theater I was in seemed absorbed.

Ellis (Tye Sheridan) lives on a houseboat in Arkansas with his parents; Mary Lee (Sarah Paulson) and Senior (Ray McKinnon). Their marriage is falling apart as they scrounge for a living. He and his best friend Neckbone, who lives with his uncle Galen (Michael Shannon), find a boat high up in a tree on an island. They meet Mud (Matthew McConaughey).

This is a perfect little movie. This is probably the most complete and deepest character Matthew McConaughey has ever played. Yet it's the outstanding work of newcomer Tye Sheridan that holds the whole thing together. This is only his second movie after 'The Tree of Life' and he absolutely shines here. This movie has a great sense of place. The actors are all great. Importantly, the characters are all deep and complex. It is a truly intriguing little movie.

14 year old Ellis (Tye Sheridan) lives with his mum Mary Lee (Sarah Paulsen) and father "Senior" (Ray Mckinnon) by the River in Arkansas. Their ramshackle boat house providing easy access to scratch a living selling fish from the mighty Mississippi.

Ellis is free to roam the bye waters in his boat with his friend "Neckbone" (Jacob Lofland) who lives with his uncle Galen (Michael Shannon). Galen keeps himself in beer by diving for oysters in the murky depths, when not loving the ladies to his favourite tunes or playing the guitar.

This is a tough, real life day to day type of existence, well away from the American lives you normally see on the big screen. It is a change to see people that are struggling, yet largely content and portrayed as loving their kids, caring about them as best they can and not turning to violence at a moments notice.

Stumbling across a boat stuck high up in the trees on a deserted island, the boys believe they have found their perfect hideout. After a while they realise they are not the first to find the boat. Notwithstanding all the possible avenues the story could take, horror or something sinister with the older man interacting with younger boys, the story takes none of the conventional routes.

Meeting "Mud" (McConaughey) we meet a perfectly formed complex character, conversing in the usual but even more pronounced southern drawl. Armed with a pistol and a strong independent survival instinct, he starts to rely or manipulate, dependant on your viewpoint, the boys to his main aim. Retaining or retrieving the love of his life "Juniper" (Reece Witherspoon), his sole reason for being is to ensure her safety away from the forces of evil, that he perceives continue to follow her.

To give too much away would spoil the film but fair to say, the story meanders and forks in the same way the Mississippi, ever present in the background, continues to do. The delicate friendships and loyalties that are built and called into question, are all beautifully and believably portrayed.

Tye Sheridan is strong yet vulnerable, experiencing the pitfalls of young love and the upheavals of his home-life require him to trust someone, whether he makes the right choices remain to be seen. McConaughey is well cast and acquits himself well, with a thoughtful layered performance that goes well beyond the stereotypes you might expect. There is a sense of loss through the movie but it is never clear what has been left behind, the ending in particular is sensitively handled. Witherspoon does not get much screen-time but makes the most of the scenes she has, portraying a character one step up from trailer trash. However she remains a constant contradiction of smarts and foolishness wrapped within a superficially simple yet complicated persona.

Matthew McConaughey has recently rescued himself from recent Rom Com hell with a string of good performances in films that actually matter, his recent collaboration with Scorsese in "Wolf of Wall Street" is a good example. It is good to see his career resurrection and start to get noticed again for his obvious acting ability. Director and writer Jeff Nichol has coaxed excellent performances especially from his young cast, whilst placing them in a believable world of which most audiences have no previous experience Complaints, the character played by Sam Shephard feels more like a plot convenience than reality and arguably Sheridan makes it hard for his co-star to shine when his performance is so strong and front and centre.

Summary

A hugely enjoyable film that perhaps defies comparisons and convention. With a story that has time to grow and confound, there are many pleasures to be had.

Like an updated Tom Sawyer novel about nothing and everything, this comes highly recommended.

The first thing that grabbed me, was the beautiful cinematography. Then the good acting. Then the proper dialogue and precision film making. Director Jeff Nichols has a knack for telling a story without being sensationalist about it. His previous film, 'Take Shelter' pretty much followed the same pattern.

The narrative is mostly from a child's perspective, and the naive nature of their perceptions. I admired their courage and determination. I must admit, though, what started out as a feel-good movie, eventually became a bit dramatic and rather grim. Nevertheless, the brilliant acting from the entire cast ensured credibility and a film that kept me glued to the screen. (Tye Sheridan in particular was very good). I kept wanting to know what was going to happen next, and how the story would unfold.

There's a lot of character development and interesting twists here, as well as a few underlying messages. The final act is action-packed and suspenseful. 'Mud' is indeed a very good production.

Two curious young boys encounter a fugitive (Matthew McConaughey) named Mud where they live. They willingly do deeds for him, and try to reunite him with his love Juniper (Reese Witherspoon) The problem is, a bunch of bounty hunters are after Mud.

It's always nice to see such a tremendous film of this nature, after all the garbage Hollywood tends to churn out these days. Mud is a genuine piece of filmmaking, which is not only thoughtful, but engrossing until the very end. It's deliberate slow pace ends up serving this film well, giving us time to soak it all in. I also loved the southern setting in this film, which made it all the more genuine, and realistic. The cinematography is a sight to behold, with many beautiful sights that never failed to amaze me. Mud is a very likable fugitive, and quite sympathetic in my opinion, and I give all the credit to McConaughey for that. He still has that charismatic swagger he always does, but he delves a lot deeper for this role. His good looks, give way to a dirty, greasy fugitive, who will do anything to survive, but is not void of morality. He cares about the young boys, even if it is for his own reasons. McConaughey pulls it off with conviction, and I felt he was tremendous. The best performance might just be Tye Sherdian as Ellis. For an actor his age, he was absolutely incredible, displaying many ranges of emotion throughout the film. This kid is going special places in my opinion, and I'll be shocked if he doesn't. Jacob Lofland is great as Neckbone (Ellis's best friend) Reese Witherspoon doesn't have a ton of screen time as you may think, but her character Juniper plays a pivotal part. Reese nails the part, and is gorgeous to boot. Sam Shepard adds great support as a longtime friend to Mud, as the grumpy assassin.

Final Thoughts: Its films like this, that restore my faith in Hollywood. It's genuine, gritty, and downright absorbing. I loved this film, and I can't possibly see why anyone would dislike it. It's just a great film

9/10

I was pretty engaged in this film, particularly in the day-to-day existence of the boys who are at the center of it. It has an element of the "Stand by Me" mentality. The boys are bright and real and find themselves having to make decisions on a moral code that they have made for themselves. They are, for the most part, realistic about things, but the culture they are in is so boring and so lacking in stimulation that when the intriguing figure of Mud comes along, they are ready for adventure. Unfortunately, there are simply so many things that just aren't believable. Their access to everything they need when they need it. The ease of transport. The lack of suspicion from others (I know there is some). They also have an incredible amount of mobility. Then there is the contrived "High Noon" conclusion that is bound to happen. It is, itself, pretty demanding of our suspension of disbelief. Still, it keeps us entertained, the acting is quite admirable, particularly the supporting characters, but I expected a little more.

There's little doubt MUD is well made. We can start with the cast. Whether it's McConaughey doing such an excellent job with oddity title character Mud that it revived his flagging career to the, as of this writing, up and coming star Tye Sheridan, to etc. etc. Well, point is everyone here gives a wonderful performance.

And thanks to Nichol's writing and careful direction, and each actor's performance, we care about all these characters, or at least relate to them. And the low key, believable, and morally grey scenario these characters are put in feels interesting and keeps your attention. Which is not to say there's not a cinematic flare to the story, but simply that it's lower key than today's glut of explosion filled blockbusters. More Jaws and less Avengers is the order of the day, with no fantastical elements to speak of.

And therein we get to the crux of the problem. Which is not the scenario itself, of two boys meeting the strangely charismatic, but wanted man Mud and having to decide whether to help him or not. But that this scenario, entirely unlike Jaws, plays itself out to an entirely unsatisfying, and even a bit off tone, conclusion.

And I mention Jaws specifically because, like this movie, it's a fairly low key movie with a bit of cinematic flare but otherwise without any particularly fantastical elements. But to demonstrate what this movie lacks I'll go ahead and spoil Jaws, wherein we build up this challenge, this mountain that is this shark. Oh sure it's one shark, but for the characters involved it is their personal mountain, and the ending battle between them and it feels like the ultimate culmination of the movie. They came to the mountain, they saw the mountain, the mountain was conquered, and we feel a sense of satisfaction and completion once it is.

By comparison, Mud almost forgets that there is a mountain. It hardly concentrates at all on Mud's situation and what it means for the kids. Instead the movie satisfies itself with building the characters in their own right and having each little side story get a huge amount of limelight. Which sounds fine until you come to the end, and the proverbial mountain comes for our characters, and you forgot it was there.

And so the mountain showing up feels odd, it doesn't feel built up much. It feels, in short, like a guest you realized you invited a week ago, but have forgot to prepare for and in fact haven't even thought about all week, and so when they show up the entire visit feels rather awkward and uncomfortable.

And with that awkward, and uncomfortable guest showing up, the movie ends. Flat, straight out ends. The mountain, the shark, killed. The conflict is resolved, and the characters go their separate ways. Oh we like the characters, or at least relate to them, plenty. But we don't feel any particular satisfaction in the end of the story. Because though the main thread of the story is at an end we were never that invested in it to begin with.

Which is why, while I enjoyed the film 95% of the time while I was watching it, I also completely forgot it existed until its director came up in movie news with his next, Midnight Special.

If you're like me, you greet the phrase "coming of age story" with something between a polite nod and an gaping, open mouthed yawn. While "Mud" falls into that category, it's easily one of the best, if not the best, in its class. This is because nothing about it is predictable; there's no sappy cliché message, and although it's mostly tame regarding violence, some parts are extremely tense, menacing and disturbing. Ultimately, yes, it's a coming of age story, but it's a slightly dark version which is aimed more at adults than kids.

The plot in a sentence: Two 14-year-old boys discover a mysterious loner living on an island on the Mississippi River, and as secrets unravel they realize they've gotten into something much deeper than they had bargained for.

Although our protagonist is a 14-year-old boy "Ellis" (excellently, and I mean EXCELLENTLY, played by Tye Sheridan), this isn't just a 14-year-old's story. In the DVD interviews, director/writer Jeff Nichols said he chose a young teen as the protagonist because he felt that our early teens are when we feel emotions the strongest. Everything is amplified, and later in life we rarely feel that surge the same. And so, through the eyes of Ellis, we see a story unfold in a grippingly powerful way.

Themes touch on loyalty, responsibility & fighting for what you believe in. But the central theme is love in its many definitions. We learn that our mysterious stranger (Matthew McConoughy) is driven solely and obsessively by thought of his lost love, and in a parallel fashion, Ellis is falling in love with his first crush. In both cases, he sees love as a storybook ideal. What he gets may not be what he had imagined, and this creates a powerful, driving conflict in the story.

There is action, suspense, artistry and some beautifully shot, poetic moments brought to life through the camera as well as McConoughy's fantastic performance. Even more so, the setting of rural Arkansas along the Mississippi is something you can't miss. In almost a Werner Herzog type vein ("Aguirre the Wrath of God", "Fitzcarraldo") where the ominous natural setting becomes a silent character in the film, director Nichols really knew how to immerse us in an all-encompassing, dense alternate reality, set apart from the real world as if time were frozen since the days of Huck Finn. That alone is worth the price of admission. Definitely if you're a fan of Herzog you must see this film.

Other directors and films I'd compare this to include Wim Wenders ("Until the End of the World" with its vast Australian desolation), Lasse Hallström ("Safe Haven" set in Southport, NC or even "Chocolat" set in a timeless French village on a river) and of course the Rob Reiner masterpiece "Stand By Me". If you liked any of those flicks, you won't be disappointed here.

Mud was very well-received by a packed house at the Paramount Theatre for its Regional Premiere at Austin's SXSW Film Festival. The crowd particularly loved local favorites director Jeff Nichols and the always shape-shifting Matthew McConaughey. (How is it possible that McConaughey hasn't even been nominated for an Oscar yet?) Mud is a charming, entrancing film that has almost lyrical quality as it unfolds along the rural backwoods of Arkansas's Mississippi River. The story revolves around the adventures of two young teenage boys who meet a mysterious drifter appropriately named Mud. Mud is hiding out an island in the Mississippi River awaiting the arrival of his beloved Juniper. The story has elements of drama, thriller, and romance. While the film is slightly too long and the story has a few unnecessary and distracting subplots, its overall eloquence and is absorbing. So like the Mississippi, the story meanders a little too much. The River setting becomes a character in the film that shapes the drama playing out along it. The two teenage actors are excellent, but the film is tour-de-force for McConaughey who is its heart and soul. Highly recommended for those who like serious drama and appreciate natural beauty.

This movie started out really strong and grew slower and slower. By the middle of the movie I was waiting for something to happen and it simply never does. The ending really dragged. Disappointing.

An exquisite piece of filmmaking from writer-director Jeff Nichols, bolstered by powerful performances from Matthew McConaughey, Reece Witherspoon, Sam Shephard, Tye Sheridan and Jacob Lofland. 'Mud' is a beautifully shot film that blends crime, drama and romance into a heartfelt plot that follows two young boys who encounter a fugitive in need of their help. Set against some of the most unique and stunning locations ever used in a film, 'Mud' is reminiscent of flicks including 'Stand by Me' and 'Night of the Hunter'. Starting off relatively slow, the film steadily urges the viewer into a riveting tale of love, hate and redemption, with McConaughey giving one of his finest performances ever. A realistic and gripping coming-of-age tale that not only stands as being one of the best films of 2012, but one of the best dramas of the past decade.

I watched this movie 'cause I was expecting to watch a good crime drama but it was not. This is coming-of-age drama with some of crime elements. The main characters are kids and their performance was very good and convincing. The title "Mud" is not only the name of a fugitive, acted by Matthew McConaughey whose acting skills are great as always but also it may refer as harsh life of their families and the small island on Mississippi river where was the plot about in this movie. The atmosphere of the location is filmed very well and certainly this movie has high artistic values but main problem is a leak of plot. Characters are very good depicted but the plot could've been much better. The second half of the movie was a flat out and the end was predictable. A woman character played by Reese Witherspoon is spared and even pointless in some moments. She said just about ten sentences in whole movie or less. Shooting scenes at the end were unrealistic and even funny for this kind of a movie... After all this is not as bad movie as some of the reviewers wrote down but maybe you won't be just satisfied enough after watching it.

I went into "Mud" with no idea of what it was about. I immediately had flashbacks to "Stand By Me". That said, I think "Mud" is a better movie. I thought the acting was exceptional, the photography both real and lush, the lighting well done, and the story was fresh, real, and terrific. The direction MUST have been terrific also, as the result is a near-perfect film that everyone can and should enjoy.

The 2 young actors (playing the characters of Ellis and Neckbone) were amazing -- especially Tye Sheridan playing the lead character, Ellis. Sam Shepherd was great as Ellis' "assassin" neighbor (and longtime friend of Mud), the actor who played Ellis' dad was TERRIFIC and stole every scene he was in. Reese Witherspoon was only on film for perhaps 10 minutes but she was perfect as Mud's white-trash girlfriend. And this was Matthew McConaughey's best job EVER. (Until now only his role in The Lincoln Lawyer was good to my mind, and I was tired of his constant good-old-pretty-boy act in everything else!) I hope it was not made too early to get consideration for the Academy Awards next year. Although it's a lowish-budget independent film, "Mud" is sure to become a classic! I saw it the other night with my wife... and I plan to see it again soon with my teenage son.

Caught between childhood and teenage years, two best friends, Ellis and Neckbone, are having to navigate through the murky waters of life that has surprises at every bend. When they arrive their childhood play area - a boat that has gotten stuck in the trees during a storm - they discover an adult is now inhabiting it. Just at a time when they are beginning to recognize their own pre-adult urgings awakening inside them, they discover who is living in their tree house of sort and make friends with him. He becomes a mentor to them just when the murky waters have become too muddy to see clearly, and he tells them how his own life has been shipwrecked because of a love affair that began when he was about their age.

The man named Mud had fallen in love with a girl named Juniper when he was a kid and never recovered from the experience. Just as her name implies, she is a bittersweet, prickly creature whose fragrance has gotten into his nostrils and he thinks he can't live without her. On the other hand, she is fickle with love, not appreciating what he has to offer, and only accepting it when it's according to her whims. This mirrors the relationship that Ellis finds himself in with his "girlfriend," May Pearl.

Neckbone, on the other hand, has never had anyone love him except for an uncle whose relationships with women are on his terms and usually consist of one night, or to be more exact, one afternoon, stands. On the other hand, his uncle knows how to find the pearls others don't see, and he has found one in the boy he calls Neckbone.

Ellis can't help comparing his father's relationship with his mother to his new friend, who will do anything to defend the honor of this woman, even if it means going to jail for the rest of his life, and his father is falling short in his estimation. On one hand, his father is telling him how bad women can be and on the other hand, he has this friend telling him that they are worth everything. This conflicts Ellis, and he finds himself in his own set of conflicts as he defends the girl in his life.

Mud's stories are larger than life, and one wonders what is real and what is not. Juniper calls him a liar, but is he really? By the conclusion, one begins to see that Mud's actions are not as murky as they at first seem. In the end, will the river of life lead them to larger horizons where they can grow from their experiences?

Mud, Jeff Nichols follow up to the criminally under-seen Take Shelter, is a strange mix between a coming of age story and and escaped con thriller. Set in a Arkansas town that's about as redneck-y as redneck gets, Mud focuses on a couple of boys in their early teens, Ellis (Tye Sheridan) and Neckbone (Jacob Lofland). The duo comes across a boat lodged in a tree thats occupied by a bum named Mud (Matthew McConaughey). Mud seems amiable to the boys, trading food for a guarantee that the boat will be theirs once he goes on his merry way to reacquaint himself with the love of his life, Juniper (Reese Witherspoon). However, once it becomes clear that Mud is being hunted by the police and a pack of bounty hunters due to a past crime, the boys strike a deal with their homeless friend: they'll get the tree-stranded boat up and running in exchange for the pistol Mud used to commit the crime he is being pursued for.

First and foremost, lets make something explicitly clear: Mud is just about as cheesy as you get. The movie never misses a chance to take emotional cheap shots at the audience, and many of the plot lines (one regarding marital troubles between Ellis's folks in particular) feel ripped straight out of Lifetime movies. However, for each overwrought groaner that misses the mark, there is a genuine moment of tenderness between characters that hits the emotional bullseye.

There are plenty of moments when Nichols should have pulled back, should have avoided the schmaltz, but they don't ruin the scenes that get the relationships between characters right on. Especially effective are the scenes between Ellis and Mud, with Ellis's admiration of gruff and mysterious Mud never being overdone. The same cannot be said for the relationship between Ellis and his feuding parents, which more often then not amps the drama up to 11 when what it needed more than anything was restraint.

Mud also overstays its welcome due to an excessively leisurely pace that includes one too many subplots. Mud has plenty of fat to be cut, from the standard teen infatuation story of a young boy dropping the "L" word after a single date to a subplot revolving around a scuba diver (played by the always awesome but tragically unnecessary Micheal Shannon) which only pays off in the oddest and least fulfilling way. Had 20ish minutes been cut, I can't help but feel it would have made for a more effective final act, but as it stands the numerous bland asides from the main story drag the film down, especially in the final act.

Despite these flaws, Mud succeeds where it really counts. The relationship between the two boys, and their interactions with Mud, are a pleasure to watch. This is largely due to the easygoing chemistry between the actors, making the strange idea of a 14 year old befriending a middle aged hobo somewhat more believable. The acting in general is great all around, McConaughey stealing the show with his detached Mud. The only week link is Witherspoon as Mud's fickle love, who seems to be sleepwalking through scenes that needed a more emotional push.

As a final note, the last half hour or so of the movie goes a little crazy. Following the lamest forced-emotion scene in the film (something that was telegraphed excessively earlier in the film), the film completely switches genres for its climactic scene. Without going into detail, the ending was more than a little jarring and felt out of place in a slow drama.

There are some books that I have read that will stay in my mind for many years. This is the film equivalent. Absolutely beautiful.

'Mud' represents one of those movies that exemplifies the "idea" that you do not need exceptional depth or elaborately constructed storylines to make you feel something, and you certainly do not require characters with multiple layers or conflicts to deal with.

Even with the most simplest plot imaginable, you just need to focus on getting the basics right, and the rest will fall into place on their own.

Just like this one, it's an ordinary tale with no complexities, but we become engrossed in it, we begin to care and root for the characters and their adventures even before we realise!

Signs of a good writing!

THE GOOD: Great performances by all involved. The acting is top notch and Matthew Mconawhatever brilliantly portrays his character.

THE BAD: This movie tried to build a film around one interesting character but it doesn't overcome all its other flaws. The plot is about as slow moving as a tranquilized sloth. Nothing really happens or advances the storyline much. We spend 2 hours watching these kids bring parts to Mud. The finale is the only interesting part of the plot but not worth a 2 hour wait. Mud was an interesting character but none of the other characters are developed much.

CONCLUSION: Standard film festival drab that may appeal to the artsy fartsy crowd but leaves mainstream movie-goers wishing for more.

Two boys make their way along the Mississippi River to an island where they find a boat up a tree, however they quickly discover that they are not alone. A mysterious man is living on the island and when they encounter him, their adventure gets a lot more serious.

The setting for this film is the Mississippi River. It dominates this film as it dominates the lives of the main characters in this film. This is not a film about small-town America. There is a small town, in which everyone knows everyone, but most of the action takes place out of town, out on the river, and out in the uninhabited areas of the river's ecosystem. The two fourteen year old boys and their families, are river people, making a precarious living from the river. Life is hard but the people are hard-working, honest and resourceful. If Mark Twain was writing now, and had not been seduced into doing graphic novels, these are the people he would be writing about. In fact, this film does homage to Mark Twain; Huckleberry Finn was based on a childhood friend of Mark Twain's called Tom Blankenship, the name of a character in this film. This film then, essentially, is a modern up-date of that genre.

The two boys are played superbly by Ty Sheridan and Jacob Lofland. Their characters are fourteen-years old, hardened and matured by their environment. The two actors seem believable and natural in their roles. Chris Pine was originally considered for the role of the mysterious stranger, and with his blue eyes and young looks, he would have looked attractive and charismatic as he encountered the boys. I bet he wishes he had been in this well-scripted film. However Pine's loss is Matthew McConaughey's gain. Robinson Crusoe was never like this. I doubt if Pine could play this as well as McConaughey, who lives this role. Actor? This guy looks like he has done nothing, but, live on the river, all his life. You totally believe he is living on this island. If there was a Best Eating Baked Beans Oscar, he would get it! A totally convincing performance! All performances were great. Not just of McConaughey and the two boys, but of all the supporting actors too. At first you are unsure who is who in the families. They seem a little cold but as the film progresses the characters develop. All are believable. The female roles, there are three, are all strong and well developed. The lovely Reese Witherspoon, star of 'Legally Blonde', like Sharon Stone in 'Casino', shows here that she can play a gritty role. Youngest actress, Bonnie Sturdivant, like the boys, got it just right. Older actors too were great; Sam Shepard, who played his role with some depth, and it was good to see Joe Don Baker in a small role.

All actors played their roles convincingly. As said, their lives are hard; they are plain-speaking people, however the occasional bit of laconic home-spun philosophy, will also be said.

This movie is beautifully filmed, lovely rich colours. The river is filmed lovingly, so too the way of life. The film is a homage to the life and the river. However while we see beautiful scenes of the river, we see too the grittier scenes of urban decay and dereliction and waste. All filmed well.

The UK rating of this film is 12A, though this reviewer thinks it unsuitable for anyone under 14 years of age. There are many different threads and themes to this film and it is unclear what will be resolved. Friendship, family, life and death, love and violence are all explored. The adult themes are not hidden. The boys have to try figure out the truth and act accordingly. The film is very much seen through their eyes. However we do see a little bit more than the boys see. What is the truth? What to do? The truth is not very clear, clear as mud, perhaps. No real judgement is made about the truth, or the characters, or their decisions. Their lives are too rich and complex for that sort of simplistic verdict.

So at the end of this film, a fourteen year old boy may have learnt something, and others, so too may you. 10/10.