Review of Mud (2013) by Cj W — 19 Mar 2014

Jeff Nichols' Mud is not really about the character Mud, it's more about what he represents. Mud is a man with no real background, the only things we know about him are that he has been living in the woods almost all of his life, he is in love with a woman named Juniper, and he has killed a man who beat her.

However, Mud is the embodiment of the nature of men; he knows how to think to survive, he's simple, even-tempered, and strong, yet a woman can bring out all his weaknesses. The film is showing us the great strength a man can have, and the one thing that turns all their strength into weakness, which is love.

It is about how men seek love, their eagerness to believe in it, and their fragility when they do love. All the men in this film fall into love so haphazardly, they don't even intend on it. Love is almost an instinct for them, one that they don't really understand, but they just follow it anyway.

And it may only be for the sensuous nature of the feeling, because there is really no reason why any of these characters feel love, they just do. Mud is definitely one of the most unique looks into the nature of men, however, it is also one of the the most unbiased and most truthful studies of men I have ever seen.

Nichols places these characters assuredly onto a beautiful natural landscape, but naively into love. He never strays from the important elements and visuals of the story, the natural landscape is always an essential component to every scene, the women are innocent, yet always conceal levels of destruction, and the men are outwardly strong, but inwardly unassured.

McConaughey's performance is perfect, it always seems like he's got Mud's confidence, but you can look inside his expression and see the indecision of men. Mud is certainly one of the most compelling films of the year, with it's oscar worthy script, photography, direction, and a nomination worthy performance by McConaughey, it may be the best picture of the year so far.