Image via Lionsgate and Roadside AttractionsĬast: Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Tye Sheridan, Jacob Lofland Featuring stellar performances from an iconic supporting cast - including the late Roger Rees as the Sheriff of Rottingham, and a hilarious cameo from Patrick Stewart as King Richard I - the film is perfect for a night in with a couple of drinks and a lot of laughs. One of the films that helped to launch the Matthew McConaugheyrenaissance, Mud is a sturdy drama about a man on the run who finds unlikely friends in two young boys in Arkansas. It is a film that is helmed with a confident hand by one of the most underrated directors working today, Jeff Nichols. It is an extension of many of the themes about father figures that Nichols has tackled in his other outstanding films Take Shelter and Midnight Special while still very much being its own thing. Even as it is heartwarming and ultimately hopeful in its narrative construction, there is a whole lot of darkness looming in Mud that gives it a more melancholic element that sticks with you.
Even as it follows some of the same beats here and there, it isn’t just your typical coming-of-age story.
