(Originally from Facebook – August 3, 2013)

So, I think I have the second addition to my top ten list (along with Jagten) in Mud. It’s the setting and the performances here that sell it. All the actors were completely believable, I thought, especially Tye Sheridan, but it’ll be a crime if McConaughey doesn’t get nominated for an Oscar/Golden Globe. I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen him this good, if ever. Dazed and Confused, maybe, but that was an entirely different kind of role. Even the bit players (Joe Don Baker, Sam Shepard, Michael Shannon, et. al) were outstanding.

The one (very) small issue I had with it was that I felt the story tried too hard to run the thread of “relationships” throughout. I know the dramatic reasons why it was done; I just thought it felt more forced than synchronistic.

Mud comes in at a little over two hours, but I never once looked at my watch. I got lost in the story, and the people, and the place, and that’s about all you can ask from a film.

IMDB gives it a 7.7, and since I would put this on my top ten list, according to my scale, I’m rounding it up to an 8. Be sure to see this one, and don’t put too much stock in the plot summary. It just tells you what the movie’s about; it doesn’t tell you what it IS. (running time 2:10)