Mud - 4 smiles

“Mud,” a lyrical coming-of-age tale that feels like a Mark Twain story in a contemporary setting, explores romantic love from the perspective of an idealistic adolescent, excellently played by Tye Sheridan. Matthew McConaughey is quite effective as the enigmatic Mud and it’s easy to see how this charming, ragged fellow could enrapture a pair of impressionable kids. Because writer-director Jeff Nichols allows his story to develop slowly, you’re pulled in from the start and his sense of place feels real. The sensitive Ellis (Sheridan) and his loyal, smart-aleck pal Neckbone (Jacob Lofland) stumble across a grizzled fugitive named Mud (McConaughey), hiding out in an abandoned boat on a small island on the Mississippi River. Mud needs their help fixing the boat so he can flee with his bad-news girlfriend, Juniper (Reese Witherspoon). And Ellis, whose parents are splitting up, is won over by this stranger’s sense of romantic heroism.

What might have been a heavy-handed, overly sentimental piece of regional misery is leavened by suspense and jolts of laughter. Some of the levity comes from Neckbone, who serves as a cynical and pragmatic foil to his dreamy buddy. The two boys, whose faces register their contrasting temperaments, have been guided into exceptionally subtle feats of acting. The adults, including Sam Shepard as an enigmatic neighbor to Ellis and his family, are all good. If there’s a criticism, it’s the few underdeveloped subplots, especially with Neckbone’s oyster-fishing uncle (whose scenes seem to exist to give Michael Shannon some screen time). Nonetheless, “Mud” is a stirring tale that’s rich in detail and character development and emotionally rewarding. It’s not to be missed. 4/26/13