The movie that started the McConaugh-sance, without which we may never have gotten the Matthew McConaughey that did Dallas Buyers Club and Interstellar.
Written and directed by Jeff Nichols, this is my first experience from the writer-director. It's a really small budget movie and it worked as such.
Nichols made this characters exist in a very small world because they were introduced in a very coincidentally way that just fit into the story. That would be my biggest beef with Nichols' style of storytelling.
But other than that, Nichols knows how to tell a story and he knows how to get some great performances out of his cast, most notably McConaughey, Tye Sheridan and Jacob Lofland. It's also interesting to note that ever since Nichols started making movies, his go-to actor is Michael Shannon, who has appeared in every movie he's written and directed.
This could also be Reese Witherspoon's first indie as well, in a performance that may have been a precursor to her Oscar-nominated role in Wild.
The pacing for this movie was also done very well to keep the audience's attention, coupled with great atmospheric shots that opened and closed the movie. But the best part undoubtedly was the almost unrecognisable McConaughey that gave such a grounded performance that has never been seen before when this movie was first released.
There's a sense of charm and that quiet magnetism that can only be found in these type of small stories that happen in small American towns. And I can tell tha this is Nichols' forte, which makes me more excited for his next movie, Midnight Special.
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