MUD

Jeff Nichols’ Mud is a gorgeous tale of love, masculinity and coming-of-age. With echoes of Huckleberry Finn and Stand by Me, this archetypal bayou noir story unfolds with a languor befitting its swampy Southern setting. Matthew McConaughey plays the title character, a spiritual and leather-skinned fugitive living lonely as a Wordsworthian cloud on an island in the Arkansas stretch of the Mississippi. He strikes up an unlikely relationship with idealistic young Ellis (Tye Sheridan, The Tree of Life). Nichols creates an exquisite juxtaposition of realism and fancy, as Ellis swaps his cramped houseboat for the romance of the open water. Leaving aside the melodramatic climax, the film draws nuanced portraits of people trying to live by their own rules. Great featurettes as extras.

JUMP

A mixture of Crash, Love Actually and Go, Kieron J.Walsh’s Jump is an ambitious tale. The multi-plotted, non-linear story has elements of romance, crime, death, redemption, black comedy and farce. Nichola Burley is Greta, suicidal daughter of crime boss Lalor Roddy. Abandoning her friends (Charlene McKenna and Valene Kane) on New Year’s Eve, Greta decides to jump from Derry Peace Bridge. She is stopped by Pearse (Martin McCann), having a rough night of his own. As characters intersect, Walsh subtly taps larger themes, with Derry’s own history providing an atmospheric backdrop.  Visually, the film is stunning. Burley dons a striking angel costume. Director of photography David Rom lights Derry with the slick, heightened beauty of an arty music video. Greta’s high-rise apartment is illuminated by the city below. Throughout there is a haunting beauty to her depression. She is a lost little angel – profoundly disconnected from the world. But Jump suffers from the scale of its ambition and its short run-time, as each storyline feels slightly underdeveloped. Diverting but never hugely affecting.

IRON MAN 3

Shane Black’s Iron Man 3 – which follows the events of The Avengers – may not be subtle, but it’s far less self-indulgent than Iron Man 2.  Still shaken from the alien attack of The Avengers, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) is spending sleepless nights obsessively working on his suit. Ironically, it’s less and less a part of him. Employing only elements when needs to, Stark is literally and figuratively less guarded than ever. The result is a very human performance from Downey, and some great effects as Stark dons, for instance, only an iron arm or leg. His vulnerabilities are to the fore when he’s required to face down terrorist Mandarin (a brilliant Ben Kingsley) and sinister geneticist Guy Pearce. Demonstrating the same strengths he showed in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Black’s film is filled with cutting one-liners, and has smart things to say about America turning terrorists into comic-book celebrities. Plus, there is a brilliant revelation that’s both satirical and side-splitting. The climax disappoints. Nonetheless, this is still a brilliantly fun excursion. Good extras include gag reel.

OBLIVION

So Tom Cruise may have roots in the midlands. His latest sci-fi flick, on the other hand, has roots in ’70s science fiction, as well as What Dreams May Come and eh, Rocketeer. A mish-mash of influences, the film by Joseph Kosinski sees Cruise play a drone repairman trying to protect a post-apocalyptic Earth from feuding aliens. Cruise is on comfortable ground as a leather-clad loner who slowly realises all is not as it seems. The supporting cast prove perfectly adequate, with Andrea Riseborough bringing an edgy intelligence as Cruise’s partner, while Morgan Freeman and To the Wonder beauty Olga Kurylenko channel Morpheus and Trinity from The Matrix. The star of the film is the visuals. Kosinski and cinematographer Claudio Miranda create a nice dystopian landscape, with the rubble of New York landmarks hinting at what came before. However, the futuristic touch screen technology and white space vehicles read too much like an Apple ad. Shamelessly unoriginal, Oblivion is nevertheless impressive. Extras include deleted scenes.