SXSW Review: Jeff Nichols Strikes Gold Again with Mud

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Few modern directors capture the American spirit so perfectly as Jeff Nichols. A resident of Austin, Texas, Nichols has managed to give a voice to the working class American in each of his films, a voice so clear and distinct that one can’t help but feel at home within the worlds he creates. It is such an original voice that I feel comfortable in believing that Nichols will be around for a long time. From the grieving family of Shotgun Stories, to the examination of mental illness and changing times of Take Shelter, Nichols has quickly carved a place for himself in American cinema that his latest film, Mud, cements.

Set in the river-lands of Arkansas, the film follows two boys, Ellis (Tye Sheridan) and Neckbone Jacob Lofland), who routinely sneak out in the morning on a motorboat to check out an uninhabited island. On this island lies a tree, and on this tree rests a boat. The boys soon discover that the island may not be uninhabited, and that’s when they meet Mud (Matthew McConaughey). Taken for a drifter at first, Mud asks the boys to bring him food in exchange for letting them have the boat when he leaves. But the more they learn about him, the further they are drawn into a plot of murder, fugitives, and love.

What Nichols has crafted here is a rich, masterful tale that is equal parts early Malick and Mark Twain. It’s as if the Australian New Wave and Huckleberry Finn were thrown together in a blender, and the result is something truly special. At the center of everything is a tremendous performance by Sheridan, who, while largely absent from his debut film, The Tree of Life, is a real find. Grounding the film in a portrayal without a single false note, he perfectly embodies the turmoil of adolescence. There is still a sense of innocence and wonder left in him, believing wholeheartedly in the romance of the world, but those beliefs are being thrown into question as the harsh realities and responsibilities of adulthood draw nearer. If last year’s Moonrise Kingdom was about the importance of childhood innocence and the wisdom it can bring them, then Mud serves as the dark flip-side to that coin, positing that perhaps the romanticized view of life we hold onto as long as we can doesn’t exist, and that harsher truths must be faced.

The story of the film, though, lies in a performance from Matthew McConaughey so immersive that he becomes unrecognizable in the role. Gone is the sly wit and charm of his romantic comedy past, and what is revealed is a character who has seen more than his fair share of hardships, but even as an adult, clings on to the romantic ideals of childhood. Whether or not he truly believes in them is left for the viewer to decide, but it’s a magnetic and enthralling portrayal that serves as the culmination of a career spent as a leading man with a truly gifted character actor waiting to surface. Mud is a natural storyteller, and McConaughey’s Texan drawl only serves to pull the audience, both the boys and us, into his tales of romance and adventure.

It’s fitting that a film like Mud would be the first of Nichols’ films to play at a festival in his and McConaughey’s hometown of Austin. Such a deeply American piece of work feels right at home in a scene like SXSW, and it feels like some long lost great American novel brought to life on screen, the kind Twain or McCarthy would have written. It’s a film that taps into so many different ideas at the heart of our culture: manhood, adulthood, romanticism, freedom, family, & responsibility. But more importantly, it tells a rich and rewarding story, and that makes it a gift from one of today’s most exciting storytellers.

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