Tuesday, May 22, 2012

"Take Shelter", 2011, Written/Directed by Jeff Nichols

For whatever reason, I don't often use this space to recommend movies, but I'm going to do that today.  I recently saw Jeff Nichols' second feature, Take Shelter (2011) starring Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain on DVD, and I thought it was pretty remarkable.  Nichols' first film was Shotgun Stories (2007, also starring Shannon) which I haven't seen; this year will see the release of his third, Mud.  Suffice to say that I will be taking a look at these other two movies.

I would encourage you to not read up on this movie in advance - ignore the back of the box (have I just dated myself?) and/or the Netflix sleeve.  All I have to say about the film is that it's beautifully shot, Shannon's performance is pretty Goddamn brilliant, and Chastain matches him step for step.  Also this - some people, I believe, can watch and appreciate movies, go out to dinner and discuss them afterward, then come home and have a fine night's sleep, regardless of whether the movie was funny, sad, violent, or whatever.  If that is not you, however, I would recommend you have all your emotional ducks in a row (so to speak) before watching what I think is a very powerful film.

The ending will need to be discussed, of course, and I'd like to do that here when you've seen it.

Finally, I rarely give five stars to a movie the next day (after a period of reflection, perhaps; maybe with a second screening), but I went five on this one, even though I had one or two minor quibbles.


IBL:mm


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