Steve Stebbing

If you’re a film fan and you haven’t heard of writer-director Jeff Nichols yet, well, you have not been paying attention close enough. Making his debut film just over ten years ago, Shotgun Stories was one I picked up in my video store days, a well written volatile story with a blistering performance from Michael Shannon. Nichol’s leading man would be consistent for him, playing in the rest of the films on his resume in some way or another, and eliciting an amazing performance from Shannon is as easy for him as breathing. Shannon isn’t the only person to benefit from this masterful filmmaker as Nichols work also elevates any actor or actress that works with him. Case in point is my film focus this week, Mud starring Matthew McConaughey and Reese Witherspoon which celebrates its five year anniversary as I write this.

The film follows two young boys, played by Jacob Lofland and the now wildly popular Ready Player One star Ty Sheridan, who encounter a possibly dangerous drifter (McConaughey) on their daily journey to a little island along the Mississippi River who says his name is Mud (insert Primus joke here). The boys start up a fast friendship with him, bringing him food and supplies, eventually getting the story of why he came to be on the island. Mud is waiting for the love of his life, a woman named Juniper (Witherspoon) with bird tattoos on her hands, who he pines for every day. The boys decide to help their new found friend by trying to orchestrate a reunion between the two.

Mud is a film that McConaughey shot during the best part of his career so far, one lovingly dubbed the “ReConaughsance” where he has a career resurgence that earned him an Academy Award. Nestled in there was this raw gem of a performance that has the Texas actor wearing his emotions on his sleeve and Reese Witherspoon gives possibly my favorite showing of her career aside from Walk The Line. This film is all about character but deeper than that it’s about the history of these characters and what effect it has on their present and future. This results in a heartwarmingly Southern tale that has no bloat and no filler.

As Jeff Nichols continues to cement himself as one of the best filmmakers working today, his last films being the brilliant biopic Loving and the southern fried Spielberg sci-fi film Midnight Special, there are more and more people discovering him every day. Mud, I feel, is a great introduction piece to his writing and character building in a straightforward drama before you get into something more cerebral, especially his second flick, the brilliantly paranoid Take Shelter. It’s a creator like him and a film like this that sticks in your mind as the more belly satisfying cinema, one that you can chew on and break down long after the end credits have hit the screen.

It seems like the absolute perfect week to cover this, with Avengers: Infinity War cusping on one billion dollars (insert Dr. Evil clip here), to praise the beginning of this whole Marvel Cinematic Universe, Iron Man, as well as the bookend on the Tony Stark trilogy. Both films celebrate anniversaries as Iron Man 3 came out five years ago this week and both films did big things for the MCU as well as the cast involved. Tony Stark/Iron Man is the lynchpin of this entire cavalcade of films we have been gifted and, as comic fans, we now live in a world where something like this exists and it’s unlike nothing I a young Steve could have dreamed of.

To think that we almost had a Tom Cruise led Iron Man movie is almost incomprehensible ten years after the fact because I don’t think this whole universe would have been sustainable with him at the head. I mean, we kind of saw this with the collapse of Universal’s Dark Universe but Robert Downey Jr. was tailor fit for the role of Iron Man and, most importantly, Tony Stark himself. It was his redemption in the eyes of the world and it also lent a bit of realism to his portrayal of Stark. Relevant to Downey, Stark returns from his ordeal in the middle east that almost cost him his life and has to battle the public opinion of his former self in order to make his present and future self a person to be looked at as a hero and one that would save the world again and again. This is the metaphor of his father’s business partner and acting CEO of Stark Industries Obadiah Stane trying to kill him.

Iron Man is a landmark film which should be held in the highest regard. It pushed director Jon Favreau to a new level of blockbuster filmmaking and started the Avengers Initiative, something that new comic fans, ten and under, have known their entire life. That is absolutely impressive and something I think we’ve largely forgotten about until this year. The care that Downey, Favreau and Marvel Studios head honcho Kevin Feige have for their characters, this universe and everything contained in it are felt in every frame of film. This even extended to their friends, which is the big reason one of my favorite writers turned director Shane Black decided to play in this sandbox too.

In the third installment, Tony is dealing with severe PTSD from his descent through a wormhole holding a nuke in The Avengers. This provides the perfect opportunity for The Mandarin to destroy everything Tony holds close to him, like his Malibu home, all of his Iron Man suits, his control over his business and his relationship with the love of his life, Pepper Potts. Okay, maybe a couple of those can be put directly on Tony’s shoulders but you get the point, there’s a lot of turmoil. Iron Man 3 is a film that rubbed some people the wrong way, especially those faithful to the character of The Mandarin, but I really enjoyed it. Maybe it was that twist or that Shane Black’s brilliant buddy comedy writing created a bond between Tony and a young boy out of nowhere that was incredibly endearing. I always find myself standing up for this film and most likely always will.

As my wife and I embark on another journey through all eighteen movies leading up to the all-out Infinity War again, I implore you to do the same and, really, keep those rose colored glasses on for them because, at the end of the day, they are, if nothing, absolutely fun with a man that relishes every moment he’s on screen. In Tony’s high priced suit or Iron Man’s higher priced battle armor, this is pure escapism and it will always have a home in my heart. I love the MCU.