Rollin’ on the River

Some stories feel as though they have been with us since the dawning of time. They deal with universal themes of love, coming of age, revenge and friendship. A film that feels like a modern retelling of a long since forgotten tale is the 2012 drama Mud.

Clearly based upon Mark Twain’s yarns that feature Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, the plot follows modern day youths Ellis (Tye Sheridan) and Neckbone (Jacob Lofland) as they come of age on the Arkansas River (a tributary of the Mississippi). Both boys live a hard life, as our protagonist Ellis is dealing with his parents’ looming separation, while his best bud has been raised by his uncle Galen (Michael Shannon – Nelson Van Alden in Boardwalk Empire) and has never known his folks. Both work hard to help their family survive the stresses of day to day life in the small community. They are at that particular age where things still seem black and white, despite their growing observations that things surrounding them seem to be so much more complicated than they should be.

The pals head out on their motorboat to an uninhabited island to search for a boat that has been lodged up in a tree following the most recent Arkansas flooding. They soon find the surreal object – which is miraculously floating in mid air thanks to the hardy branches, yet soon realize that someone has been using the craft as a makeshift residence. As they meander back to their boat, they see that there are tracks leading away from it with a distinctive cross embedded in the heel. They follow the footprints away from the vessel until they disappear. . . suddenly, they hear someone from behind who cuts them off from their boat. He is a grubby looking individual who has a dangerous yet alluring air to him. His name is Mud (Matthew McConaughey) and it does not take long for him to start telling his unorthodox tale (is it truth or untrustworthy and manipulative fiction?).

The boys hear about the man’s star-crossed love affair with the most beautiful woman he has ever set eyes on: Juniper (Reese Witherspoon). He tells them of how they met, of how she rescued him from a cottonmouth snake bite, and after some time, he reveals that he killed a man who viciously abused her during one of their ‘off again’ moments in their powerfully complicated relationship.

Upon returning home, it does not take long for the boys to stumble upon the blonde dame in a grocery store and begin to believe the story that the mysterious man is spinning. Ellis makes it his duty (along with help from his loyal pal) to aid the criminal in reuniting the pair, while also procuring the parts for him to remove the hovering boat and make it seaworthy again.

There are numerous hurdles to overcome, with the biggest being that the man Mud murdered was a wealthy and powerful individual. It does not take long for his dangerous, short-fused brother Carver (Paul Sparks – Mickey Doyle from Boardwalk Empire) to stumble into town and begin to put violent pressure on Juniper so he can find his brother’s killer. Soon after, patriarch King (Joe Don Baker) arrives to run the show, controlling nearly a dozen bounty hunters, vigilantes and the like, as they hunt for the missing murderer. Even the state and local police are in on the action (with several being on King’s payroll).

Mud asks Ellis to seek the help of a river dwelling hermit named Tom (Sam Shepard), though the curmudgeonly old man seems unwilling to help the hiding individual.

Ellis is also dealing with his own problems in the realm of love, as he has been receiving mixed signals from high-schooler May Pearl (Bonnie Sturdivant). His complex love and family life only pushes him further down the path of completing his mission to aid Mud in finding true love once again. Each twist and turn leads down a complicated rabbit hole, where despite Ellis’ hopes, no answer is black and white.

Mud is a powerful film that encapsulates both the complications and importance of love. Each bond found within the movie provides the viewer with a rich tapestry of the good and bad that can be found in each relationship: loyalty, honour, respect, bravery, manipulation, fear, cruelty, heartbreak, and most importantly, love. Writer/director Jeff Nichols imbues each character and kinship with such a range of emotions that it feels incredibly real. It is both empowering and heartbreaking to watch Ellis struggle with the complexities of his parents’ crumbling marriage, his ‘girlfriend’, and his bizarre friendship with Mud. He finds great hope in the story that the drifter tells, as it encapsulates the world that he imagines in his dreams. If Mud and Juniper can thrive despite all odds, perhaps his parents will rectify their problems and he will be able to make May Pearl happy as well. Like Twain’s epic tale, or other classics such as Stand By Me or The Breakfast Club, Mud realistically depicts the life of a boy who is just learning how to make the transition into manhood.

Now, with all of this being said, the film could have fallen flat without its stellar cast. Tye Sheridan gives us a performance well beyond his years. He is able to capture the nuances of a complex role which has such a large range of conflicting emotions. Likewise, Jacob Lofland is utterly believable as Ellis’ sidekick. McConaughey is excellent as the controversial criminal. In spite of unflattering crooked teeth, he still manages to ooze charisma as the drifting outlaw with a soft spot running through his heart. He uses the minutiae of the script (with Mud being superstitious, having survived a snake bite. . .) to create an utterly believable man who could be living in the backwoods somewhere in the deep south. Witherspoon is able to evoke a dark and complicated character in Juniper. Caught between a rock and a hard place, she both loves and fears running away with her childhood sweetheart. Her character is kind of a hussy, yet we can also sympathize with the predicament she is in. Joe Don Baker and Paul Sparks create memorable roles. Baker brings a quietness to his villain, making him the silent type you wouldn’t want to cross, while Sparks thrives as a wild card who is also able to exude a threatening calm at certain moments. Though I have not spoken about Sam Shepard’s role very much, he is a vital part of the story and plays it perfectly. Ray McKinnon and Sarah Paulson also deserve credit for their portrayal of Ellis’ parents. Though they are hard on him sometimes, we can tell that they truly love him despite all of the pain that is permeating within their river-boat home.

Mud is aptly named. It depicts the messiness of life and love. It has a wonderful persona (if a film can have such a thing), as it feels like it is at the very crux of old and new. It contains a tale as old as time itself, with all of what that entails (traditional values, coming of age, love . . .), while also weaving in issues that are quite modern (growing divorce rates, moving from rural locales to towns and cities, transitioning away from old-style water life/work . . .). So, take a shot at enjoying this riverboat fantasy; it is well worth the trip downstream.