Take Shelter
1.5/4
Starring: Michael Shannon, Jessica Chastain, Shea Wigham, Tova Stewart, Kathy Baker
Rated R for Some Language
It is the director's job, in every movie, to make his characters grow. While they may be caught in stasis, we have to see that the things that happen to them are affecting them. That doesn't happen here. "Take Shelter" is Jeff Nichols' second film (his third was "Mud," which was released earlier this year), and it suffers from a crawling pace. The film is so slow going that it completely tanks the film and makes the two lead performances an exercise in futility.
Curtis (Shannon) is a loving husband to Samantha (Chastain) and father to Hannah (Stewart). He has a job in construction and works with his best buddy, Dewart (Wigham). But he's seeing storms and raining oil that no one else is seeing, and he's having violent nightmares that cause him to behave in bizarre ways. Convinced that there is a devastating storm approaching, Curtis begins to revamp the storm shelter in his backyard. His increasingly deranged behavior is alienating him from his friends and jeopardizing his marriage and his career.
The film gets off to a strong start. It's atmospheric and creepy. Nichols develops a potent sense of foreboding. But he isn't able to sustain it. Nichols spins his wheels far too much and the whole film starts to move at a sluggish pace. It didn't take long for me to stop caring about the characters.
It's not for a lack of trying on the actors part. Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain give it their all, but it's not enough. Shannon, who usually portrays characters on the brink of insanity, is given an interesting character. Curtis's mother (Baker) was diagnosed a paranoid schizophrenic when he was 10, and has been living in a facility ever since. Curtis knows that this may be the cause of his problems. But Nichols' script doesn't allow him to bridge the gap between the sickness and the part of him that knows he's sick. Jessica Chastain's role is mostly obligatory, since someone has to play the straight man that points out that the main character isn't behaving rationally. But Chastain is one of those rare actors who can take anything and spin it into gold. This isn't her best performance, but she's very good.
Ultimately, the film is undone by it's poor pacing. Stuff happens, but Nichols doesn't bring it out very much. This is one of those movies that feels about three times as long as it actually is.
Starring: Michael Shannon, Jessica Chastain, Shea Wigham, Tova Stewart, Kathy Baker
Rated R for Some Language
It is the director's job, in every movie, to make his characters grow. While they may be caught in stasis, we have to see that the things that happen to them are affecting them. That doesn't happen here. "Take Shelter" is Jeff Nichols' second film (his third was "Mud," which was released earlier this year), and it suffers from a crawling pace. The film is so slow going that it completely tanks the film and makes the two lead performances an exercise in futility.
Curtis (Shannon) is a loving husband to Samantha (Chastain) and father to Hannah (Stewart). He has a job in construction and works with his best buddy, Dewart (Wigham). But he's seeing storms and raining oil that no one else is seeing, and he's having violent nightmares that cause him to behave in bizarre ways. Convinced that there is a devastating storm approaching, Curtis begins to revamp the storm shelter in his backyard. His increasingly deranged behavior is alienating him from his friends and jeopardizing his marriage and his career.
The film gets off to a strong start. It's atmospheric and creepy. Nichols develops a potent sense of foreboding. But he isn't able to sustain it. Nichols spins his wheels far too much and the whole film starts to move at a sluggish pace. It didn't take long for me to stop caring about the characters.
It's not for a lack of trying on the actors part. Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain give it their all, but it's not enough. Shannon, who usually portrays characters on the brink of insanity, is given an interesting character. Curtis's mother (Baker) was diagnosed a paranoid schizophrenic when he was 10, and has been living in a facility ever since. Curtis knows that this may be the cause of his problems. But Nichols' script doesn't allow him to bridge the gap between the sickness and the part of him that knows he's sick. Jessica Chastain's role is mostly obligatory, since someone has to play the straight man that points out that the main character isn't behaving rationally. But Chastain is one of those rare actors who can take anything and spin it into gold. This isn't her best performance, but she's very good.
Ultimately, the film is undone by it's poor pacing. Stuff happens, but Nichols doesn't bring it out very much. This is one of those movies that feels about three times as long as it actually is.
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