Take Shelter

Starring: Michael Shannon, Jessica Chastain, Tova Stewart, Shea Whigham, Katy Mixon
Directed by: Jeff Nichols
Rating: R
Genre: Drama, Thriller
2011

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A husband (Michael Shannon) has apocalyptic visions, which cause him to question his sanity.

Review:

Tim: I was pretty intrigued to see Take Shelter. I'd heard Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain were good in it, and I generally enjoy apocalyptic-themed movies. This felt like one of those under-the-radar films that surprise you with how good they were. The film missed out on any Academy Award nominations, but that was easily enough explained away. Unfortunately, the film was not what I was hoping to see. This film is incredibly slow and builds up towards an ambiguous ending that felt unsatisfying. I didn't care much for this film, which is extremely disappointing.

I was surprised at how slow the film was. It just felt like nothing happened. After the first hour, my patience started to wane. When I realized I had another hour to go, I specifically said, "This better be building up towards an impressive finish." It simply had no other choice- the movie crawls along, and the main thing that keeps you interested is the belief that sticking with the film will result in a big payoff at the end. Everything points to this conclusion. Unfortunately, the end of the movie wasn't that great. It leaves things ambiguous for the audience to draw their own conclusions, but it didn't leave me feeling very good. Confusing endings can be great (see Inception), but this one was a letdown. After sitting through a movie that long and slow, I wanted more from the ending. It was a disappointment.

I didn't think Michael Shannon was anything special in the film. I'm glad he didn't receive a nomination because I don't think he would have deserved it. He's fine, but it felt frustrating to watch him. He didn't make us understand his character especially well, so his actions felt stupid and stubborn. He does have a few great moments, but overall, I wasn't impressed. This is the second time I've heard great things about a Shannon performance, only to discover that people overstated the truth. I'm not impressed with him as an actor. Jessica Chastain was fine- she had a few strong moments, but overall, didn't do much for me. She was in 7 movies in 2011, and I'm starting to feel like I need a bit of a break from her. This film felt too similar to her role in The Tree of Life.

Take Shelter felt a bit too predictable. Even though you might not know exactly how the film ends, I felt like the plot was very familiar and even the big "twist" is pretty obvious. There's also a fake-out scene which takes an agonizingly long time to build up to, and then delivers a fairly obvious revelation. The movie felt like it tried very hard to misdirect and throw off the audience, but all these moves don't work. I felt like I was following along too easily and the "twists" weren't that surprising.

I'm a bit surprised this film received so much love from critics. I thought the film was far too slow and didn't reward the audience at the end. The movie was predictable, and the performances were overrated. This is an okay film, but pretty disappointing in the end.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 6



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: The Tree of Life, Knowing