Friday, August 16, 2013

Growing up hurts: MUD ****

Slowing moving and gorgeous, MUD was as good as I hoped it would be. Ellis and Neckbone serve as the pure center of the film with a host of damaged, sinful adults around them who are alternately inspired and shamed by the faith of the innocent boys. And me? I was holding my breath, hoping against hope that nothing would rob either of them of their belief in love, and the river, and each other.

They navigate the parallel worlds of the the town and the river just as they ride their bikes between what passes for family and the outliers who invade the town with their own vengeful conflicts.  Every character was finely drawn regardless of their time onscreen. Michael Shannon as  Neck's Uncle Galen, and Ray McKinnon as Ellis' father were my favorites.  McConaughey dazzles, because he plays Mud as a foil to the two boys. It was a good strategy. A coming of age story must be about the individual who will become a man, not the corrupt man who creates the conflict. Ellis does his best given the models around him: his father, Mud, Mud's father (Sam Shepard), Galen, King, Carver. None of them is much good. Ellis and Neck must find their own way.

And they do.