Mud is a sticky, sweaty and swampy coming of age film about two
boys, a man and a boat in a tree. Two adventurous teenage boys who live on the Mississippi river find a boat up a tree on a small
deserted island, miles from anywhere. Excited at the prospect of their new,
secluded secret hideout, the boys soon discover that the boat is in fact
inhabited by a strange man who calls himself Mud. Initially wary of the
stranger, the boys get close to the man and help him first by bringing food and
then with plans to complete the Herzogian task of bringing the boat down from
the tree. This is all set against a gritty, humid backdrop with a hint that
something in the air smells like death.
I thought I’d missed my chance to
see Mud at the cinema but found a
midday screening I was able to slip into on a day off work. I’d been looking
forward to it as the trailer looked promising and I’ve become a fan of Matthew
McConaughey’s ‘McConaissance’. Having now seen it I can report that for me the
film worked well but there was just something that niggled with me. I can’t put
my finger on the problem but it wasn’t long before I was fidgety and bored.
