Save your money for something good and enjoyable

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

RELEASED IN 2012-2013 and written & directed by Jeff Nichols, "Mud" is a southern gothic crime drama taking place in Arkansas along the Mississippi River where two boys discover a fugitive named Mud (Matthew McConaughey) hiding out on an island and decide to help him evade the authorities & vigilantes that are on his trail in hope of reuniting him with his true love, Juniper (Reese Witherspoon). This is a film about authentic Southern people and the code by which they live. Urbanized types usually refer to them as "rednecks." While some of them may be "white trash," most of them are not. They're independent of the government, hardworking and respectful citizens, not to mention rooted in Christian morality, although not necessarily Christians. The film respects the intelligence of the viewer, leaving it to him/her to read between the lines. It's similar to "Joe," which was released a year later, but not as abrasively pessimistic and is overall better. In tone, it's akin to "Undertow" (2004) and "Snow Angels" (2007). If you appreciate those flicks, you'll like "Mud." There are a lot of gems to mine: Ellis (Tye Sheridan) mirrors Mud as an adolescent. Will he make the same mistakes that brought Mud to his current state? The movie's basically a rumination on the potential in both masculinity and femininity for good or bad, but the focus is more on the toxicity of some women, which is refreshing, as Hollywood tends to paint men as evil incarnate or thoroughly inept while women are usually sterling examples of eminent nobility (Why Sure!). The film also reveals the idealization of love and how "love is blind." Just because you truly love someone in a romantic sense doesn't mean s/he is good for you and that you should develop & maintain a relationship. I was never a fan of Witherspoon, but didn't dislike her either. In any case, she's quite good as the seemingly innocent-yet-toxic love interest. Bonnie Sturdivant is excellent as her teenage counterpart, May Pearl; they should've done more with her. THE MOVIE RUNS 2 hour 10 minutes and was shot in Arkansas (Crocketts Bluff, Eudora, Dumas and Stuttgart). ADDITIONAL CAST: Sam Shepard, Michael Shannon, Paul Sparks and Joe Don Baker. GRADE: B/B+

First-the summary of this movie reminds me of one older movie from the 90s, as two boys meet an escaped convict and in the end the prisoner shoots one of the boys, but is being shot in the end from the injured boy's brother in revenge, or defense. My criteria to rate a movie are special effects and stunts- fights and gunshots look real. language-If people talk with sophisticated phrases the language won't appear to be spontaneous but the result of a writer. Outdoor scenery-gives typical impression of the misissippi region. The end-In this case the end does not seem to be from a true story. However, a movie is only based on a true story if phrase like "this movie is based on true facts" is placed in its introduction or final declaration. One key scene is as the officer asks "do you know this man" and the boy says first "No" but asks"What did he do". Does the officer suspect the boy is lying?

Two young boys encounter a fugitive and form a pact to help him evade the vigilantes that are on his trail and to reunite him with his true love. Mud is a film that really surprised Matthew McConaughey and Tye Sheridan gave 2 really great performances and the drama really worked a lot it also had a pretty cool 3rd act it kinda changed since the first and 2nd act were more slower and dramatic and as a whole the cast did a pretty good job some maybe they needed a bit more backstory and the pacing to be a little bit faster but still really good movie with great performances and it really worked well in the end for me i'll give Mud an 8/10.

A teenage boy, who lives with his struggling parents on an old houseboat on a river in Louisiana, and his best friend discover an old boat resting in a tree on a nearby island. The boys, looking for adventure, decide to take owner-ship of the wrecked boat, only to find that a stranger, a man named Mud has other ideas about that boat. Mud (played by Matthew McConaughry) tells the two boys about his early life there in the same Louisiana locale, and about his love for the pretty girl he fell in love with in his youth. He then asks them to help in restoring the boat so that he can re-unite with his first love. The boys are at first apprehensive, but one of them, love struck with a girl a couple years older than himself, decides to help and his friend relents and goes along with the plan. They soon discover that Mud is a man on the run, but they still continue to assist him in his quest. This is a little coming-of-age tale with enough warmth and suspense to make a viewing well worthwhile. The cast is excellent, and the sense-of-place is near perfect.