Young Ellis (Tye Sheridan) and his best pal Neckbone (Jacob Lofland) are out playing around on a raft in a river (think Tom and Huck) excep these boys are from Arkansas. Ellis is sensitive, Neck is mouthy, fascinated by girls’ cleavage, until they happen upon Mud (Matthew McConaughey) who peeks their fascination where he hides out in an abandoned boat in the woods. He’s not a bum. Call him “a homeless hobo” if you must “But never a bum.”
We don’t often take Matt McConaughey seriously. His roles a small range of eligible bachelor usually cast with Kate Hudson in a generic rom com. But in this, his southern, droll, dirty appeal really works.
He talks of his love for his ‘girlfriend’ Reese Witherspoon, longing to be reunited with her. This fascinates Ellis, our sensitive boy, trying to understand love, raised in a home with bickering and divorcing parents, and falling for an unavailable older girl in school. Ellis believes in romance. He believes chivalry is not dead. He believes in love and hope, and he’ll put his family in jeopardy to help mysterious dirty ‘Mud’ hiding out in the woods, mainly in need of a good bath.
There’s something about this film about love, trust and betrayal (and murder) that has elements of Winters Bone a small indie film that put Jennifer Lawrence up for best actress in 2011. One keeps hoping this slow poke hillbilly film will gain momentum as it moves as slow as the Mississippi river, but only in the end does it finally pick up the pace. ♚ ♛ 1/2