Mud (2013)

Matthew McConaughey is on a helluva roll recently, leaving behind awful rom-cons with killer takes in “Bernie,” “Lincoln Lawyer,” and now “Mud.” Mud is the name of his character, a man hiding from police and bounty hunters on an ugly speck of an island on the Mississippi River. This is not his story, though. It belongs to Ellis (Tye Sheridan, from “Tree of Life”), a young teen in turmoil as his parents split and he dabbles in the maddening world of young romance. Ellis, with a pal named Neckbone (!), stumble upon Mud, and a testy friendship/mentorship is born as Ellis becomes Mud’s connection to the outside world. I’ll stop there. Watching the plot unfold and big-name actors pop up in small roles is part of the thrill of this drama from writer/director Jeff Nichols (“Take Shelter”). Nichols is on his own roll, making smart films about small-town Americans without making them seem like yocals born to be mocked. Alas, his long climax jumps into the Hollywood rut of a big shootout that plays too loud and ludicrous. Tea Partiers will dig the anti-fed messages. Keep your eyes open for a bank sign at the end. B

Take Shelter (2011)

Michael Shannon is no stranger to expertly playing haunted/tortured outsiders as evident in “My Son, My Son” and “Revolutionary Road.” In the taunt, purposefully slow-paced drama “Take Shelter,” he plays an Average Joe in Ohio named Curtis who works in aggregates, loves his wife (Jessica Chastain, great as always) and dotes on his deaf daughter. All is apple-pie normal until Curtis begins having profoundly disturbing nightmares and visions of violent storms with doom-laden clouds and thick and brownish-yellow rainwater. The dreams/visions grow more intense and Curtis fears schizophrenia, with good reason. His mother was struck with the disorder in her mid-30s. Director and writer Jeff Nichols’ film is a stunner, from the minute details of daily life to the way small towns blanket fear over a person to fit in and be quiet, go to church or else. “Shelter” nails two closing high marks -– Curtis’ meltdown at a public dinner and a tornado alert -– before a devastating two-punch finale, one inevitably sad, the latter forcing the viewer to question all that has happened. Tall and gangly, Shannon’s raging performance here is frightening and fragile. A