Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on January 2014

Gotta hand it to Matthew McConaughey for reinventing himself and pulling out of the dismal rom-com spiral he was in. Dude can act. But that said, the emotional heart of this highly entertaining Southern Gothic potboiler is young Tye Sheridan (The Tree of Life), who plays an 14-year-old Arkansas river rat who befriends and abets a fugitive hiding on a deserted island from the cops as well as from some vicious, vengeful vigilantes. Add to that Reese Witherspoon, Sam Shepard, Joe Don Baker and notably Jacob Lofland as the dreamer Tye’s pragmatic foil, and you’ve got a movie that Mark Twain would like. (130 min)