Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Take Shelter (2011)

Take Shelter (2011)
Take Shelter (2011)

Genre: Drama
Director: Jeff Nichols
Starring: Michael Shannon, Jessica Chastain, Tova Stewart
Language: English
Duration: 120 min.
Rating: 7.3 

Summary:
Plagued by a series of apocalyptic visions, a young husband and father questions whether to shelter his family from a coming storm, or from himself.



Take Shelter is a film written and directed by Jeff Nichols. It premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, and later screened in the International Critics' Week section of the 2011 Cannes Film Festival where it won the Critics' Week Grand Prix.

Tense atmosphere and apocalyptic nightmares abound in this captivating character drama starring Michael Shannon in a role that seems to come naturally for him, as hard working mid-west family man Curtis, who becomes unhinged after he starts having dreams and visions of an impending deadly storm.

Nichols' direction does well to take us along on Curtis' terrifying journey into mental illness, developing it in a convincing progression. The ominous cinematography filled with images of dark storms and eerie swarms of crows, set the stage for Shannon's powerful performance, one that comes across as equally a riveting force of nature as the one in his dreams. Providing ample support is his confused but understanding wife Samantha, played with all of the instinctive natural skill that I've come to expect from the ubiquitous Jessica Chastain.

Despite the fascinating lead character and carefully crafted atmosphere, there are segments towards the middle of the film that drag somewhat and I felt there were perhaps too many dream sequences. They do work to keep the story confusing and the outcome unpredictable, nicely echoing Curtis' state of mind, but they just take too long to get there.

Bonjour Tristesse

Take Shelter (2011)

Take Shelter (2011)

Take Shelter (2011)

Take Shelter (2011)

Take Shelter (2011)

Take Shelter (2011)

Take Shelter (2011)

Take Shelter (2011)

17 comments:

CastorTroy said...

Once I see it, most definitely!

Bonjour Tristesse said...

Nice!  Are you planning on reviewing it on AM?

Bonjour Tristesse said...

I was just thinking that if you combined the acting here with visuals of The Shining, it would make the perfect film.

Margaret said...

Great review! I love this movie so much, one of the best from last year. The score was especially beautiful.

FrontRoomCinema said...

yeah man I thought exactly the same as you. I loved Shannon, he was super strong, as ever! But it was a bit yawnie through the middle act. The final act however was excellent

d_4 said...

It sounds pretty interesting. I'll make sure I'm in a waiting mood when I watch it because if it gets me hooked at the beginning and eases grip on the middle I might get upset with it.

Lisa Thatcher said...

This is a great review - as usual - thanks so much.
Isn't this also a tried and true theme in film?  Is the enemy outside the family or within...
I think you'd have to do something extra special with a plot line like this to give the film a reason for existing at all.

Bonjour Tristesse said...

Thanks Michaël, there really are a couple of great performances here.

Bonjour Tristesse said...

I do agree about the purpose of the middle scenes, but it's a difficult line to maintain between properly grounding the story and being repetitive, and it just crosses it for me.

Bonjour Tristesse said...

There was a point, just before the Lion's club scene where I started checking the time, and I very seldom do that. Luckily things picked up quickly from there.

NeverTooEarlyMP said...

Nice review. I think I liked this one more than you did, and actually felt like the middle sections helped ground the story in terms of competing realities and the ways that protection in one mental state created more danger in the other one. Completely agree about Shannon's excellent performance though!

CastorTroy said...

Can't wait to see this. Been waiting for the DVD FOREVER and it's finally here!

Michaël Parent said...

Interesting, I was gonna watch this one mainly for Shannon and Chastain. But the story looks appealing too. Good review!

Jjjjj7125 said...

The movie as a whole had a M. Knight feel, I found myself 45 minutes into it verifying it wasn't. Strong characters and powerful contrasts between them kept me interested. The ending was a huge let down, however I understood why it ended in the manner it did. All in all a good plot, but the film lacked a constant flow which would have aided the story.

Christian page said...

Worst film ever! Nothing happens for 2 hours then you see some shoddy cinematics and it ends I will never get that time bk! Who ever produced this film should pay me compensation for lost time

Bonjour Tristesse said...

Heh. Write to Sony, maybe they'll give you a refund.

Bonjour Tristesse said...

Exactly. If there's going to be that kind of ending, it takes way too long to get us there.

Post a Comment