James Fazzaro

I went to see MUD at the Bridgewater Library this evening, after a long day of stage crewing and a quick dinner of soup. The film was really good, I had meant to see it in theatres but didn’t get the chance. Matthew McConaughy is the titular Mud, a man on the run who enlists the help of two local boys to help him escape. It’s an interesting mix of boy’s adventure/coming-of-age story and a more mature adult escapism of a different sort. These elements were very well handled by the cast and crew, and the production was a big shot in the arm for Arkansas. Director Jeff Nichols and DP Adam Stone worked together on TAKE SHELTER, another movie I very highly admire. Sam Shepard, Reese Witherspoon and Michael Shannon have good supporting parts, and the two boys, played by Tye Sheridan and Jacob Lofland, were very naturalistic and carry the film well. Mr. McConaughy is of course a natural for the part, and director Nichols wanted him since he first wrote the script. All in all a great example of American independent filmmaking, and something to encourage and promote in this awful wasteland of comic book films and tentpoles. Once again, Hollywood, figure this stuff out!