Watch: 2 Great Clips From Jeff Nichols’ ‘Mud’ Starring Matthew McConaughey

So is Matthew McConaughey going to be the man of Cannes in 2012? The actor is already earning some serious buzz due to a recent string of roles that have seen him drop the shirtless rom-com act and man up for some juicy parts. He hits the Croisette with two movies in tow, Lee Daniels' "The Paperboy" (which we saw the first clip from this morning) and Jeff Nichols' "Mud." And it looks like again, he's delivering a helluva performance.

Co-starring Reese Witherspoon, Michael Shannon and "The Tree of Life" tyke Tye Sheridan, the film which has been described as a "fairy tale," follows the story of an unlikely friendship between a fugitive (McConaughey) and a 14-year-old boy (Sheridan) who helps him escape off an island in Mississippi, evade the law and bounty hunters, so he can reunite with his sweetheart Juniper (Witherspoon). There is a lovely tone here, and an eerie use of music, which adds to the otherworldly nature of the story and as we said, McConaughey looks like once again, he's stepping firmly out of his established persona. Sheridan also looks solid as what seems to be the co-lead role and — old punk rockers take note! — his buddy is wearing a Fugazi t-shirt. Btw, David Wingo who scored Nichols' rather awesome psychological impending-apocalypse drama, "Take Shelter," is scoring this one as well, not members of Lucero as once reported.

"Mud" premieres at the tail end of the festival on Saturday, May 26th. No distributor yet, but we'd wager it won't be without for long. [RopeOfSilicon]