The “McConaissance” (not to be confused with the “Keanussance,” or the Disney Renaissance) was a period of time that started around 2011 with The Lincoln Lawyer, and ended around 2015 with The Sea of Trees.
But, for as short as it lasted, we got banger after banger, like Killer Joe (2011), Dallas Buyers Club (2013), The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), and the creme de la creme, the first season of True Detective (2014) – Oh, and also Interstellar (2014) if you like that sort of thing. I don’t.
However, one movie that almost always seems to get forgotten is 2012’s Mud, which is one of Matthew McConaughey’s best movies. Here’s why you should watch it if you haven’t.
Matthew McConaughey Showed True Range Even Prior To Dallas Buyers Club
McConaughey had a pretty interesting career before the “McConnaissance,” and I think a lot of people tend to forget that. Yes, he did become sort of a heartthrob in the early 2000s with films like The Wedding Planner, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, and Failure to Launch, but this was also the guy who starred in movies like A Time to Kill, Contact, and Amistad.
Hell, do you want to know MY introduction to Matthew McConaughey? It wasn’t Dazed and Confused, but rather, 1995’s The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Or, for my Blockbuster brethren, Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation, which was the version I always saw on the shelves).
Anyway, what I’m trying to say is, McConaughey already showed a great deal of range before the “McConnaissance.” He just kind of found his groove again in the 2010s, with 2012’s Mud being a real standout. In the film, he plays a charismatic fugitive who befriends two teenagers. He’s not a good man, as he’s a murderer, but he seems like a good man, and two boys named Ellis and Neckbone (Played by Tye Sheridan and Jacob Lofland, respectively) warm up to him quickly.
This is why McConaughey’s range is important, because not only do the boys like him, but the audience likes him as well. We later learn that his character lies through his teeth, but McConaughey does such a good job that we almost believe that he does it out of survival, and not just to screw people over. It’s a role that, when I initially saw it upon release, I truly did believe the hype that McConaughey was building at the time. When I later watched 2011’s Killer Joe, I knew that this was a different actor from the one who had done Fool’s Gold a few years prior. Mud showed that McConaughey was a different actor, entirely!
The Film Really Embraces Its Setting
So, let me just say that I’m a Northerner who doesn’t really visit the South very often. Sure, I’ve gone to Florida to go to Disney World and Universal Studios, and I even went to Georgia to visit an old friend. That said, when it comes to states like Arkansas and Mississippi, well, they might as well be Mars to me, since I’ve never gone down there, and I don’t foresee myself ever going down there.
And, yes, that says more about me than it does about said states (What do you want from me? I’m from Jersey, home of the Toxic Avenger and Ms. Marvel). Even so, I do have a sort of fascination with the areas. Thankfully, movies can transport me to places that I wouldn’t necessarily visit, and Mud does a great job (I would imagine) of giving the local flavor of the Arkansas area.
You see, the story takes place mostly on an island in the Mississippi River close to Arkansas. The two boys, Neckbone and Ellis, find a boat and immediately determine it’s theirs. However, a strange man who calls himself Mud (McConaughey) lives in it, and he says that he’ll give the boys the boat if they help him in his tight situation. In this way, the setting feels like a character in itself, as the water and the neighboring bars and houses all feel very authentic, and are definitely not ashamed, but rather, celebratory of its people and customs.
This is a film that doesn’t glorify the South, but it does feel like it gives an honest portrayal of what it’s like to live in and around the area. This makes the story feel all the more open and expansive. It’s a film that really embraces its setting, and I applaud it for that.
Sam Shepard And Reese Witherspoon Also Make Memorable Appearances
Reese Witherspoon, who won an Academy Award years earlier for her portrayal of June Carter in Walk the Line (which is one of her best films), plays a different role in Mud, as she is the woman whom Mud says that he’s sticking around for. Now, being that Mud is a pathological liar, there are both truths and some lies sprinkled into his story. And, Witherspoon plays the woman as an actual, three-dimensional person, whereas Mud idealizes her in a way that doesn’t fit the description once we meet her.
This is important since it fleshes out her character, but also paints Mud in a different light as well. It’s like, we’re introduced to characters by the way Mud describes them, but then later get the genuine article once we meet them ourselves. And, Witherspoon’s character, Juniper, is fascinating, since she loves Mud, but she admits that she could never spend a lifetime with him since he’s such a liar. It’s a memorable performance.
Another such is Sam Shepard, who plays a fatherly figure with mean sharpshooting skills. Shepard plays Ellis’s neighbor, Tom, and also somebody who knew Mud when he was younger. As such, he both warns the boys to stay away from Mud, but also feels a certain need to protect him in the only way that he knows how, which is through violence.
Shepard often acts like a guardian angel for Mud, and the performance adds a lot of depth to the story as a whole, since Shepard’s confidence as an actor really makes you think that he has a longstanding history with Mud. This also gives this story a lot more personality.
This, The Lincoln Lawyer, And Killer Joe Truly Kickstarted The McConnaissance
In the end, I really think of Mud as one of the key movies that really kickstarted the “McConnaissance,” with The Lincoln Lawyer and Killer Joe being the other two. Mud really works, though, because it shows the many sides that McConaughey could pull off, as he was downright sinister in Killer Joe, a likable rogue in The Lincoln Lawyer, and a little of both in Mud, plus a little something extra on the side.
Later on, McConaughey would go on to do films like Free State of Jones, White Boy Rick, and The Dark Tower – which, let us never speak of again – but that just proves that the heyday of the “McConnaissance” was coming to an end by 2016, since none of those films really reached the recognition or heights of the early 2010s.
Be that as it may, I feel like Mud is a good reminder of just how high a point this was in McConaughey’s career. It wasn’t as big as Magic Mike, or Interstellar, and he didn’t win Best Actor as he did for Dallas Buyers Club, but, if you want a standout McConaughey performance from the “McConnaissance,” then you can’t go wrong with Mud.
But, what do you think? Have you watched Mud? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
