Set to the backdrop of crime, and being an engaging thriller, Mud is first and foremost a coming-of-age story about a boy trying to come into terms with what love is. Jeff Nichols who wrote and directed this film, manages to intertwine several different relationship plotlines into one whole story, and does so in a manner that feels natural.
Though the film's title and star power suggest the main character is Mud, impeccably performed by Matthew McConaughey, it is a young teenager named Ellis (acted by Tye Sheridan, stealing the show from McConaughey) whose Mud is all about. Ellis is both an observer and a participant in these multiple love and relationship stories, whether as a son, a boyfriend, or a messenger. Although most, if not all of these relationships do not end up well, Ellis' drive to seek love is so naïve and romantic that it touches a warm spot within you. My only reservation about Mud has to do with its pacing. It seems Nichols wanted to show us, the audience, as much as he could about the culture of Arkansas' river people, that he packed the film with moments that take away from its effectiveness plot-wise. At over two hours, it is a good fifteen minutes too long. Yet Mud is still a film well-worth seeing.