Mud ~ Too Many Flaws

Hi all. Last night I watched 'Mud'. I was quite excited for this movie, I even blogged about the trailer. Sadly, the movie didn't quite stand up to the trailer. It's a very strange situation. It's not that it wasn't good, it's that there was too much bad. A shame really.

I'm going to start with the good things. The acting, especially McConaughey, was impressive to say the least. He was gritty and pensive. Surprisingly, he was only shirtless for maybe 5-10 minutes of the film! No, in all seriousness, I have absolutely nothing bad to say about McConaughey's performance. Good job buddy!

Frankly, most all the technical aspects of 'Mud' are great. Cinematography, costumes, and sets etc. It's this fact, the fact that is was so well done in most ways, that makes it such a terrible shame to have its two flaws.

Told you so.

The two flaws! (Dramatic music)

Flaw number one! The completely unnecessary presence of filth in this movie. By filth I mean Porn references, crude sexual slang, and unrepentant disrespects for dignity. It was completely superfluous! Worst of all, most of it was spoken or viewed by young boys. Fourteen year olds. It was just so crude and all throughout the movie. I don't like the idea that those kid actors were told to say those things. I understand that they were supposed to be from the Deep South and they are from a crass community but it was SO IRRELEVANT TO THE PLOT. I could rant for ages but I won't.

He really pulled off 'Hick'.

My second flaw is much more minor then the first one. The story is very thin. By thin I mean that it's very simple. Here is the best reference I can imagine at the moment. Take 'The Sandlot'. You know the part where the ball has flown over the fence and they are using all sorts of wacky devices to try and get it back? Imagine that were the entire movie. Yes, getting the ball back is a major plot point and key to the overall story arc, but there is other stuff going on too. If the movie had been like 'Mud' literally the entire movie would have shown them slowly building a machine, talking about the machine, and planning exactly how to use the machine. Just one plan, mind you! Also, there wasn't really any side plot to help edge the story along. There was this one tiny thing with one of the boys wanting a girlfriend but it was so minor I can't count it. I might have been able to accept an incredibly slow moving story with very few twists and turns had it been the sole issue.

Oddly enough, the story was somewhat interesting while I was watching it. This was because you were always expecting a twist of some sort. It wasn't till you get to the end and you see that you have been waiting the whole movie for SOME sort of clever writing when you feel the deflating "Big Whoop" moment.

Well, as I'm sure you can guess, I don't recommend this movie. It's not worth the two hours.

Generic slut character with no depth WHATSOEVER.
Nice to know her Oscar winning acting skills aren't going
to waste. -_-

P.S. One of the kids is named Neckbone. Can anyone tell me if this name is really something you might find in the South? It seems too ridiculous to be real but I'm open to being set straight.

P.S. #2 Notice how I didn't even mention Reese Witherspoon? Yeah, that was intentional.