Loving

A white bricklayer and amateur drag racer (Joel Edgerton) builds a home in segregated rural Virginia and travels to Washington, D.C. to wed his black wife (Ruth Negga). Soon they find themselves dragged from their home, jailed, and charged under an anti-miscegenation law, a case that would eventually get picked up by the ACLU and lead to a landmark 1967 Supreme Court decision. In telling the story of Richard and Mildred Loving, Jeff Nichols curiously opts for a leisurely approach, forgoing drama, characterization, and narrative drive resulting in a bland, disappointing outing. Edgerton and Negga give it an admirable go but simply are just not given enough to work with.

** out of ****

Midnight Special

A young boy with extrasensory perception (Jaeden Lieberher) serves as redeemer for a fanatical Texas religious compound and presents a genuine threat to national security. When it becomes evident the feds are moving in, he is taken on the lamb by his birth father (Michael Shannon) and his capable non-believer childhood friend (Joel Edgerton). Jeff Nichols' Midnight Special blends elements of Close Encounters, E.T., and Starman in a solidly crafted, satisfying adult geared production that still feels somewhat incomplete and aloof, with an expected though out of place and even idiotic ending. Shannon and Edgerton carry the film, young Lieberher successfully and thankfully underplays his part, and I still don't understand why Adam Driver keeps turning up in these significant roles.

*** out of ****

Mud

Two backwater Arkansan adolescents (Tye Sheridan, Jacob Lofland) journey down the river to retrieve a boat which had been planted on the treetops by a recent flood, and noticed on a previous visit. Scaling the tree and examining their new fine, they realize someone has taken quarters in their boat and quickly encounter Mud (Matthew McConaughey), a fugitive from justice, guilty of committing a crime of passion for his childhood sweetheart (Reese Witherspoon). Inspired by this tale of romance, they decide to help their new friend plot his escape, while dealing with their own family and personal heartache in their last summer of innocence. "Mud" is another demonstration of of the versatility of writer director Jeff Nichols who, following the tragic "Shotgun Stories" and allegorical "Take Shelter", returns with a coming-of-age story which is much more contemplative than its plot description supposes. The film boasts excellent photography, which alone makes the film worth seeing, and fine performances (McConaughey is a little hard to take seriously) especially from the well-cast Sheridan and Lofland.

Take Shelter

A construction worker with a family history of mental illness, living with his wife and hearing impaired daughter in rural Ohio begins having nightmarish apocalyptic visions. Fearing the vivid dreams as an omen, he begins to build a tornado shelter in his backyard against his wife's consent, the family budget, and the concerns of the community. Jeff Nichols' "Take Shelter" can be seen as a stark, sobering take on "Field of Dreams", made in the same leisured, hypnotic vein of his first outing "Shotgun Stories", which also starred Michael Shannon. Shannon is the most interesting actor to emerge in recent years, and here he again brings his inwardly intense, powerfully brooding sensibilities to an intelligent character who is so paralyzed with the fear of what his visions might actually mean. Jessica Chastain, another performer on the rise having already starred in a succession of good films this year, delivers a fine performance as a loving wife who has reached her wit's end on how to deal with her troubled, uncompromising husband. Another actor I've come to admire recently is Shea Whigham, Shannon's "Boardwalk Empire" costar, who too is excellent here playing man not knowing how to react to his friend's strange behavior. I'm not sure there's a name for it, but over the past ten decade there have been some really fine filmmakers to emerge from the south, including Shannon, Nichols, Whigham, and the director David Gordon Green, all of whom have collaborated with each other in some form or another. Their films offer a leisured, intimate, and often powerful view of sleepy small town America, and here we have another excellent example of that breathless kind of filmmaking.

Shotgun Stories

In Arkansas, two brothers were abused and abandoned by their alcoholic father who reformed himself and started a new family, having two more sons. The film begins with the father's death, and his first two sons decide to crash the funeral at which the man is now fondly remembered. Thus begins the feud between the two sets of half brothers. Shotgun Stories does not provide the kind of film you would expect from the plot description. Rather, it is a slow-moving and observant southern drama directed by first time director Jeff Nichols, made in the same vein as the David Gordon Green indies (Green was one of the film's producers). The performance of Michael Shannon as the oldest step-brother is worth noting as well. He chooses not to play the role as an angry redneck, but as an intelligent young man. Shannon is proving himself to be one of the finer actors of his generation.
*** out of ****