Mud

The coming of age film is a long tradition, but it's not often done well. Most of the time, it's an excuse to tell a formulaic story of small challenges wrapped up with a tidy moral (see Superbad, most Pixar and Disney Films.) Sometimes it seems to me that there's an understanding that "family" films must be bland and reinforce a limited moral code, as if "children" can't handle complex thought, or perhaps that there's a magical age when they suddenly become capable of reasoning although it was never asked of them earlier.

Personally, I've always felt that good coming of age stories are the best films of all, giving us a chance to look at our lives with a fresh perspective long after we've forgotten what it was like to grow up. Films such as, "Stand By Me," "Rebel Without A Cause," "The Return," "Mysterious Skin," and "My Life as a Dog,"  to select a handful of examples, agree that an important step towards manhood is realizing that nothing comes easy, and the adults don't have the answers either.

"Mud" is a movie in that tradition. It centers on two friends, Ellis (Tye Sheridan) and Neckbone (Jacob Loflan.) Ellis lives on a houseboat in Arkansas, where he helps his father deliver fish to local customers. His father is stern and strict about rules but it becomes more and more clear that he and Mom aren't getting along. Neckbone doesn't have parents, and lives with his uncle Galen (Michael Shannon) who spends most of his time chasing women, providing a safe place to live and more friendship than a parental role.

Ellis and Neckbone spend their free time cruising around the river. They're fascinated to find a boat stuck in a tree on an island, and attempt to claim it as their own. They soon find that the boat has already been claimed, when a mysterious man named "Mud." (Matthew McConaughey) appears on the beach, after they notice his footprints, which leave a cross imprint in the sand (for good luck he tells them.) "It's a hell of a thing, a boat in a tree." he says, and proposes a deal. If they help him by bringing food, they can have the boat when he leaves, which is supposed to be after his "true love," Juniper, (Reese Witherspoon) a beauty with birds tattooed on her hands, arrives to meet him.

Mud tells them half stories and shares his superstitions including the story of his lucky shirt. They get a hint that he may be more dangerous than he appears, as he has a gun tucked into his pants, and takes offense when Neckbone calls him a "bum" telling him that he could call him "homeless" or even a "hobo" as neither of those terms imply worthlessness or laziness. Ellis is more impressed by Mud than Neckbone, but he goes along with his friend's wishes.

At home, we see that Ellis is caught in the middle of his parents' bitterness, although when he asks his father, Senior (Ray McKinnon) about their loud disagreements, he's told to mind his own business. That situation rapidly degenerates as his father heads towards a breakdown and finally admits that his mother wants to move away from the river and into town. This would mean they'd lose the houseboat as she technically owns it. His father presents it as his way of life on the river being taken away, but it's not as simple as that. When pressed about it, Ellis' mother reveals that she's been keeping the family afloat for years, although Senior likes to believe otherwise for the sake of his masculine pride.

Visiting Mud becomes an escape for Ellis, even when it becomes clear there's more to Mud than he first presented. After the FBI arrives in town looking for Mud with "Wanted" posters, Ellis lets him know. He tells the boys that he killed a man who was cruel to Juniper. This only strengthens Ellis' resolve to help even as Mud changes plans, deciding he'll need to get the boat out of the tree and escape. Ellis sees all Mud's actions as performed for the sake of true love. Ellis himself is experiencing his own love at the time, and punches an older kid for harassing the girl he has eyes for in order to start a conversation.

Ellis and Neckbone discover Juniper in town and act as a third party for Mud's messages. This gets them into a tense situation with a gangster, the brother of the man Mud killed looking to exact retribution. Soon we see that the murdered man's powerful father, described by Mud as "the devil himself"  is in town as well with lots of help.Mud asks them to get in touch with Tom Blankenship (Sam Shepard) as well, referring to him as an "assassin." Tom goes with the boys to the island, but rather than help he scolds Mud and tells him he's not getting involved. He tells Ellis later that Mud has always gotten into trouble over Juniper, who has a habit of leaving Mud and picking up with dangerous men until Mud gets her out of trouble, only to do it all over again.

Tensions mount as the FBI, the gangsters close in and Juniper is hesitant to leave with Mud. Ellis has his own battles as he has a meaningful moment with the girl he likes only to have her ignore him later on when she's with an older boy. He tries punching the older kid but it doesn't work as well this time. They find Mud drunk and not wearing his lucky shirt anymore as if he's given up. The set progression is altered however, when Ellis is the victim of a snakebite and Mud has to leave his island to rush him into town before it's too late, setting up the circumstances that reveal everyone's true character.

"Mud" is a visually beautiful film, clearly focused on the river. Jeff Nichols proves again (Shotgun Stories, Take Shelter) that he's a gifted storyteller. Small touches like boat landings, and puddles full of snakes and houseboats give it the feeling of authenticity. Mud's boat in a tree set up calls to mind the treehouse in "Badlands" although this time inhabited by someone capable of living in nature. The characters as well, are all informed by the river, Ellis' family and Neckbone's Uncle Galen both make their living from the river (though Galen seems to have it down a little better than Senior) This way of life, it seems is not an easy one and on the verge of disappearing. Mud himself seems a throwback to another time, and we can't help but wonder how rare it is to find a place where a man can hide out on an island and only by chance be discovered by a couple kids. McConaughey makes this role his own, as he's had a habit of doing recently. This character is a guy who has become so wrapped up in his own superstitious persona and destructive pattern of behavior that he's forgotten about many things that most people live with, (such as the law, and consequences.) As much as Ellis is blinded to danger by the idea of true love, Mud has taken it to whole different level. His exhilaration and disappointment concerning Juniper have become his life by force of habit. His hideout on the island is significant however, as we learn it's where he and Juniper first met, perhaps a sign that he's looking at where he's been.

Ray McKinnon's senior is a tragic figure in a different way than Mud. He presents us with a portrait of a proud failure. Like Mud, he seems to long for another time, but simply isn't the man he'd like to be. He presents himself as a traditionalist who wants to preserve a way of life, but we learn that he adopted this way of life from his wife and her traditions and this doesn't pay the bills. Mary Lee, has had all she can take of the river, as she grew up with it never feeling the need to mythologize.

Tye Sheridan does a tremendous job as Ellis. He sees everything that's happening and we catch him at a pivot point. Everything he knows about the world from being a child is being challenged. His mother and father aren't staying together, his father's work ethic appears to be pointless, and his ability to see love as a worthy motivation is severely challenged. He wrestles with these issues internally and by his own direct actions for mostly little reward.

Reese Witherspoon is another twisted character, as caught in habit as Mud, who she says she loves but can't live with. It's easy to see why Tom Blankenship thinks poorly of Juniper, as she certainly seems bound for ruin, damaging everyone around her on the way. Yet, Juniper's behavior is a known quantity. We know that she has a pattern, so while Blankenship blames her for Mud's misfortune, Mud can hardly be surprised. We do in fact see that Mud eventually accepts reality but certainly not easily.

The figure of Mud offers possibilities to Ellis. While boys typically see their fathers as a preview of what they might become, Ellis isn't happy with that. He knows his own father is miserable, powerless and broken in ways he isn't able to understand yet. Senior is also resigned to the fact that everything is crumbling. Ellis is young and wants to believe in things, possibility and true love. He isn't impressed by Neckbone's Uncle Galen, a figure of manhood who appears very limited in his expectations. Mud, at least on the surface presents a purer picture. To Ellis, here's a guy who lives by his superstitions and risks everything for the girl he loves. Of course, he learns eventually that Mud's ways are partly an act he uses to escape accountability. Ellis is hurt when Mud gives up on Juniper, despite the fact that he has little choice if he'd like to avoid prison or death.

Nothing works out the way Ellis would like it to, but his good faith is still rewarded when Mud saves his life at great personal cost and he even risks everything again to say goodbye before leaving town. Maybe Mud is still a fraud, but he has some good points too, that came out because the unexpected happened. In "Mud" nobody has all the answers. Mud knows as little about love as anyone, including Ellis' parents or Ellis himself.   But that isn't to say there aren't people who come through for you, Mud does in his way, and Tom Blankenship does the same thing for Mud. Despite washing his hands of Mud's latest campaign, he comes through when it counts in a real and surprising way. And Senior stays there too, even as the way of life he imagined he'd wanted is gone. It's all a risk, and everyone is both more and less than they first appear, but it isn't hopeless. Everything can change, but there's plenty around to believe in if you want to.

Killer Joe

There aren't many people who would want to be a character in a William Friedkin film. He has a talent for capturing the limits of desperation in his characters in "Killer Joe" is no exception. Friedkin isn't interested in glamorizing evil, but neither does he pull back at the dullness and lack of imagination that it can spring from. "Killer Joe" is the second time he's taken the work of playwright Tracie Letts and translated it to film. (He also adapted "Bug")

In Killer Joe, Chris Smith (Emile Hirsch) a shortsighted, unintelligent and self centered younger man gets himself deep in debt to some formidable figures. Neither he, nor anyone in his family have any money to speak of. When approached for help, his father, Ansel (Thomas Haden Church) tells him he's never had $1,000.00 at one time in his whole life. Chris has an idea however. He heard about a police officer named Joe Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) or "Killer Joe." who does contract killing for $20,000.00 per victim. Chris reasons that they can hire Joe to kill his mother (Ansel's ex wife) and collect her life insurance, since they're under the impression that Dottie (Chris' sister/Ansel's daughter) is the beneficiary and they can easily get the money from her. Ansel insists that they split the take with his current wife, Sharla (Gina Gershon.) Chris agrees, although he and Sharla hate each other.

They set up a meeting with Killer Joe, but Ansel is unable to get out of work, leaving Dottie (Juno Temple) to greet Joe. He finds her attempting to imitate Bruce Lee's moves while watching one of his movies. "That looks hard." he remarks and advises her to get an instructor. He's immediately fascinated with the strangely gifted Dottie, who asks point blank if he's going to kill her mother. When he tells her he doesn't know yet, she tells him that she remembers her mother trying to kill her as a baby. She asks him about the most exciting thing that's ever happened to him, he describes a police call he responded to, where he encountered a man who set his own genitals on fire to teach his cheating wife a lesson. "Was he alright?" Dottie asks, and Joe coolly responds, "No, No, he was not alright. He set his genitals on fire." Chris calls the house and asks Joe to meet them at a pool hall near Ansel's work. He agrees, but adds "Don't change plans on me again."

They have a meeting and Chris explains what they need done, also telling Joe that they don't have the money upfront but can pay him out of the insurance settlement. Joe isn't interested in this at all, telling Chris and Ansel that the deal is $25,000.00 up front and not negotiable. Before leaving he has an idea though, and suggests they think about "a retainer." He tells them he can hold onto Dottie until the $25,000.00 is paid. Chris and Ansel discuss the idea and agree to do it. Ansel even reasons it might be good for her. They arrange to have Joe meet Dottie for dinner at Ansel's house, neglecting to tell Dottie that she and Joe will be the only ones at the dinner until moments before it happens.

Dottie finds the deal agreeable, but complications arise when local crime figure Digger Soames, comes looking for Chris to collect his money. The life insurance settlement doesn't pay out like Chris thought it would, setting up a violent confrontation.

"Killer Joe" presents us with an interest contrast. Chris' family is like a competition to see who's the most shallow and self centered. Ansel is the dull witted centerpiece that holds the family together. Dottie and Sharla live with Ansel, while Chris is the visitor, normally living with his mother. As Sharla points out, when he visits, he takes charge of everyone in the household. They tolerate him, as he's part of their chosen drama, but he remains an agitant. Even the dog doesn't like him. They all seem to agree that Chris isn't good at much except getting himself into trouble.

Sharla is Chris' most obvious and certainly most vocal adversary. She's hardly in a position to judge anyone else as it turns out she's likely the most duplicitous member of the family, a fact which only comes out because Joe is more informed than anyone in the family, and forces the issue. Gina Gershon really brings her to life, from business as usual, to gleefully combative  to weathering sadistic humiliation. She's more intelligent than the family and attempts to use that to her benefit. We know that this is a different kind of character when she answers the door half naked and when Chris is upset that she's not wearing pants, she explains, "I didn't know who was at the door." She has plans that extend outside the family, although they are stalled by Killer Joe's detective work.

Emile Hirsch's Chris begins as our main character. It's his problem that accelerates the action. At the start he already owes money to a guy who is going to kill him if he doesn't pay up. It's clear that no one cares for his mother very much and the idea to kill her for the life insurance seems like his only solution. This isn't an idea he could think of himself, however, and we find later that the insurance scam, and the idea of calling in Killer Joe, were actually suggested to him by an untrustworthy source, and he ends up in doubly in over his head, and just as broke. Chris and his family, for the most part behave like a family of snarling dogs. The only person he seems to care about is his sister Dottie, and even that concern seems to arise too little, too late, and twisted into more of a possessive concern than a caring one. He tries to coerce Dottie to run away with him, but pays little attention to her opinion on the matter.

Dottie's character is an interesting one. She's treated like a child with special needs, yet she seems more aware of the whole situation than anyone else. She figures things out long before they're given away. She knows that Ansel and Chris are planning to kill her mother, and that Sharla has a boyfriend on the side. Her father and brother offer her up as a retainer to Killer Joe, and she takes it all in stride. She actually seems quite interested in Joe, perhaps planning on Joe getting her out of her rotten family. She's certainly the best part of her family, although it's in their nature to underestimate her. They can't quite comprehend that she has her own ideas, and will at some point have too much of being treated as their pawn.

Matthew McConaughey is terrific as Joe, and this probably the best role of his career. He presents a character who appears to be everything that Chris' dysfunctional family is not. He doesn't get upset or quibble over trivia. He simply states his position quietly and courteously. He has no use for the squabbling chaos. He reminds Chris and Ansel twice that he would appreciate them paying some attention to the details they agree upon. Killer Joe is a dangerous and serious man, although towards the end we see his psychopathic leanings come to the surface when he demands the truth from Sharla. He's far more twisted than the family, insisting that they all sit down for a family dinner, knowing that in all likelihood, he may end up killing them all. Killer Joe presents the idea of evil as very polite and approachable, less concerned with the deed itself than the payment. We don't even see Joe kill Chris' mother, as if to say that the murder is just uninteresting to Joe, simply another job.

 We follow Chris for the bulk of the movie, watching his panic bring the plot into action. He has the chance to reconsider. Joe tells him "Call it off and you'll never see me again." Of course, having just been assured by Digger Soames that he only has a couple days to get the money together, he declines the offer and tells Joe to carry on. With a little more time, he does reconsider but it's already too late, leaving only the matter of Joe's payment. He decides to cancel the deal even though he's already received the services promised, and unwisely perhaps, thinks all it takes is having a gun of his own.

It becomes clear though, that this is more Dottie's story than Chris'. She's a character who has formed her own peculiar morality, started perhaps by the memory of her mother trying to kill her when she was an infant.  The fact that Joe kills people for money seems fascinating to her. He certainly represents an existence very different than the one she's had so far. Joe is a very active character and shows an intelligence that's lacking in her family surroundings. She finds his brand of evil charismatic, as if he's a dark variation on the knight in shining armor. She's used to being thought of as a possession, and the retainer status given by Chris and Ansel doesn't seem shocking to her. She simply imposes her own terms on the arrangement. Although historically close to Chris, she isn't interested in running away with him, as we learn when Joe announces their wedding plans. No one has an objection except Chris, who insists she's running away with him. When Dottie picks Joe, Chris informs her that she has no say in the matter. Finally, she corrects him, and Ansel as well, whose complete failure to stick up for his family has become obscene. Joe realizes he's lost control of the situation as well, and has no choice but to see he can't control everything.

"Killer Joe" ends up being an interesting reflection on the nature of choice and of evil. Chris and his family are introduced as passive characters with a choice to make. It appears as a simple problem of balance, Chris weighing the life of his despised mother against his own. Initially both he and Ansel make the decision with little trouble. It's an idea, not an actual deed. Anything over $1,000.00 seems like a fantasy to Ansel. None of them are required to get their hands dirty. Killer Joe will take care of it and they can be bystanders. However, lacking the money to get the deal going, they do have to get their hands dirty, allowing Joe to consider Dottie as his retainer. This agreement is certainly made with the idea in mind that the money is a sure thing, but that they would agree to it under the best conditions makes it no less reprehensible. They're exerting control that isn't theirs over another life, just as certainly as Joe does when he kills people. Of course they don't realize this, Chris' family (with the exception of Sharla) is not intellectually capable of much calculating. They come to their conclusions after the fact, when they're already surrounded by consequences.  Once they engage Joe, an active force of evil, the time to reconsider is over. They're all too busy pondering their own self interest to consider such questions, at least, until it's too late. It's a very dark, brutal and graphic cautionary tale.