There's a saying I know that goes like this, "Any fool can complicate things but it takes true genius to make simplicity sing." This movie is pure evidence of that statement in all of its glory. There is absolutely nothing complicated about this story. Two boys find a boat in a tree, left there from a time when the placed had flooded, and then befriend a man they find there. That's it, there's nothing really more complicated than that, yet all the complication arises, not from the storyline, but from the rich characters that are mined for everything that defines character development and the relationships of these characters. Ultimately this is story about moving from childhood into adulthood, from innocence into experience. It's a timely tale that has been told a million times over, but it's also a theme, that when done right, connects to anyone who watches it, because everyone remembers going through the innocence to experience of childhood. It's a universal theme that connects us all.
This is not a movie with a powerhouse budget behind it. This is not a movie that relies on spectacle or over-the-top action scenes or set pieces. This is not a movie churned out by the Hollywood factory of movie making. I bet this was a hard movie to get made because of how simplistic it is and how anti-Hollywood everything about it is. Even when I was writing what the movie was about, up above, I realized how simple the story line was. But it's that simplicity that really makes this movie work. It's that simplicity that ultimately sells this movie.
Another thing I love about this movie is that it is the total anti-low budget movie. It is the complete opposite of everything about low budget film making today. It doesn't rely on interpretation of imagery as an excuse for story telling nor does it use abstract or fractured story telling as an excuse for being lazy. Instead Mud uses the old fashioned was of story telling - establishing good characters and making the audience care about them and their life and presents all of this is a straight forward story. This is so against what normal low budget film making has become today, which more or less has become an excuse for pushing boundaries for the sake of pushing boundaries. Like Seinfeld low budget film making has become an industry producing movies about nothing, but like anything "arty" this nothing they produce gets hailed as genre breaking or some kind of commentary on something or another. This is simply what low budget film making has become, as the writers and directors seem to use every excuse in the book to not actually tell a story but instead deconstruct everything about story telling until the actual story becomes lost in their pretentiousness. Mud, as I said above and will reiterate again, is the complete opposite of all that low budget film making has become and it is all the better for it. If more low budget film making would follow the model of Mud, I think low budget film making would have a sort of renaissance with the audience and the money would follow.
This is also a perfectly cast movie, down to every actor who utters a word of dialogue and I do mean every actor who has any line in this movie. But it's the three main stars of the movie that really help to pace and propel the storyline home. They provide the heart and soul of the movie, through their conviction to their characters and dedication to their roles, they help to breath life into every scene and make this fictional story and world come alive. The young actor, Tye Sheridan, who plays the main character, Ellis, plays him to perfection. Ultimately it's his story we get to follow as this boy journeys from innocence to experience and Sheridan does a wonderful job of portraying Ellis' character development. It's the quiet scenes where he really shines as his facial expressions and subtle way he squints his eyes that really help to show what's going on inside of him. Jacob Lofland, who plays Ellis' best friend Neckbone (one of the best names for a character in a movie in a long time), doesn't have the in depth role of Sheridan. But Lofland plays Neckbone with a street smart intellect and sly sense of humor that makes him stand out, despite not being as fully drawn out as Ellis. Matthew McConaughey plays one of his best roles in years and is simply magnetic to the camera when he is on screen as he plays, more or less, a secondary character. But his character is the fulcrum to which all of the movie hinges, even when he is not on screen his presence is still there, much like Brandon and his Godfather role.
Lastly, the director's choice to use as many on location shootings as he did, only added to full effect of creating a world unlike most people get to see on screen. The Arkansas rivers, islands, and forest become a central character in this movie, a living breathing character that added much life and energy in every scene. This movie reminded me a lot of how John Boorman used the location shooting in Deliverance to full effect, the same can be said of Mud. There is a subtle invocation of nature taking over, no where near the same effect as Deliverance used it, but the fact I could make the connection means this theme is lurking around Mud. And to be truthful that isn't a bad thing whatsoever, in fact, I think it only adds to the lure of Mud and makes it a better movie.
No comments:
Post a Comment