Mud

Given how much I've always been annoyed by Matthew McConaughey, you wouldn't think that a film being promoted with a poster that just shows him glowering into the middle distance would particularly appeal. But the references in the Nova's weekly email digest to Stand by Me and Huckleberry Finn intrigued me - I'm drawn to coming of age films, and also to renditions of americana (another in this southern, Mississippi stream that recently struck me was the fantastic Beasts of the Southern Wild) - and Mud delivered. Beautifully shot, lingering on images of the river and its foliage and wildlife, as well as the human wreckage (and lives) surrounding it, and has an apt sense of mystery and ambiguity; while it relies on a classic final act crisis and resolution and is maybe just a tad neat in how all the pieces tie together, the ending is satisfying. McConaughey good (this plus Killer Joe forces a reappraisal), likewise everyone else, including the central child actors and the supporting adult cast, not least Reese Witherspoon (ubiquitous to the point that it might almost be surprising that she's an excellent actor) - though it must be said that women do not get a good run in this one.

(w/ David and Nenad)