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Special Features
Commentary with Jeff Nichols & Michael Shannon
Behind the Scenes of Take Shelter
Q&A with Michael Shannon & Shea Whigham
Better Safe Than Sorry
Behind the Scenes of Take Shelter
Q&A with Michael Shannon & Shea Whigham
Better Safe Than Sorry
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
The looming presence of Michael Shannon (Revolutionary Road) was made for a role like Curtis, the haunted protagonist of Take Shelter. On paper, Curtis would appear to be a normal mid-American husband and father; a construction manager, he has a wife (Jessica Chastain) and a hearing-impaired daughter, and a nice piece of land in tornado country. But, of course, he can't be entirely normal, because he's played by Michael Shannon. So, after suffering nightmares that gradually turn into waking hallucinations, Curtis becomes convinced that a great disaster is coming. His behavior, and his insistence on building out the storm shelter in the backyard, suggests he is either visionary or going out of his mind. This film by Shotgun Stories director Jeff Nichols is all eerie buildup, a series of ominous signs or concerned conversations. Because Shannon is such a formidable and uneasy presence, some of this is intriguing for a while (and Tree of Life star Chastain contributes her strong instincts to the marital scenes), but somehow by the end the whole thing feels more portentous than insightful, like a lofty take on an M. Night Shyamalan project but without Shyamalan's canny storytelling sense. --Robert Horton
Product Description
Following his acclaimed debut, Shotgun Stories, writer/director Jeff Nichols reteams with actor Michael Shannon to create a haunting tale that will creep under your skin and expose your darkest fears. Curtis LaForche lives in a small town in Ohio with his wife, Samantha, and daughter, Hannah, a six-year-old deaf girl. When Curtis begins to have terrifying dreams, he keeps the visions to himself, channeling his anxiety into obsessively building a storm shelter in his backyard. His seemingly inexplicable behavior concerns and confounds those closest to him, but the resulting strain on his marriage and tension within his community can’t compare with Curtis’s privately held fear of what his dreams may truly signify. Take Shelter features fully realized characters crumbling under the weight of real-life problems. Using tone and atmosphere to chilling effect, Nichols crafts a powerful psychological thriller that is a disturbing tale for our times.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
26 of 28 people found the following review helpful
Format:Amazon Instant Video
Jeff Nichols and Michael Shannon have accomplished a portrait of paranoid schizophrenia which is the most accurate (to those who have known these sufferers) to date with the exception of a far bleaker film: Clean, Shaven (The Criterion Collection).
The difference here is that Nichols wants to show how deeply linked the hallucinations, dreams and daily disturbances of a schizophrenic are to daily reality, in particular to our global feeling that the next shoe might drop at any time. If anyone watching imagines that Curtis' behavior is unrealistic or that Shannon's natural ability to be eccentric and frightening are exaggerations of what these people (and their loved ones) go through, think again. Having worked with the homeless/mentally ill (unfortunately a lot of men and women like Curtis simply fall through the cracks) I have always made it a policy to keep apocalyptic material AWAY from them. The miracle Nichols pulls off here is to reflect so expertly what happens when these symptoms first start developing through Curtis' mind.
A blue collar construction worker and generally an average man (Officer Van Alden from Boardwalk Empire: The Complete First Season is absent here) Curtis has a wonderful wife (Jessica Chastain who resembles Mia Farrow to an almost disturbing degree) and a sweet little girl who is handicapped (Tova Stewart). His buddy on the construction site (Shea Wigham)is the first one to really notice that something's just not right with our man. As the result of exactly one simple rainstorm, Curtis begins to develop brief but very potent hallucinations involving thunder, rain, and his dog. Since thunder can make certain canines so scared they turn vicious I'm pretty sure Nichols is not setting Curtis up as a prophet proper. He is trying to communicate the subtle and explosive panic developing in Curtis' mind.
The first move that lets you know this guy is hurting is when he makes a financially risky move on a tight budget, taking out a home improvement loan for an old tornado shelter. He puts his dog in a wire rimmed fence in the backyard though he's done nothing to deserve this punishment.
He then begins to stock up food, has his buddy help him steal equipment from work to dig a bigger tunnel in his yard, and gets laid off. His explosion at the Community Benefit Dinner is the most representative of the character's struggle, screaming about a storm that is coming with the zeal of a Pentecostal preacher from the work of Flannery O' Connor. The misery that mental illness of this kind inflicts on families is reflected almost perfectly here. His wife makes ends meet only after realizing her husband is disturbed.
The ending is what people are arguing about. It really could be anything--a shared subjective vision, a hallucination Curtis has when he is asleep and about to leave for the beach on the doctor's orders. I think Nichols was borrowing from The Last Wave (The Criterion Collection) and a quote in that film: "A dream is the shadow of something real."
This deserves the attention it's getting because it puts into mainstream view what severely mentally disturbed people suffer everyday. Not everyone can afford doctors, medication, and not all these stories have a happy ending. The best movie I've seen concerning this subject along with Bug (Special Edition) and Clean, Shaven (The Criterion Collection).
The difference here is that Nichols wants to show how deeply linked the hallucinations, dreams and daily disturbances of a schizophrenic are to daily reality, in particular to our global feeling that the next shoe might drop at any time. If anyone watching imagines that Curtis' behavior is unrealistic or that Shannon's natural ability to be eccentric and frightening are exaggerations of what these people (and their loved ones) go through, think again. Having worked with the homeless/mentally ill (unfortunately a lot of men and women like Curtis simply fall through the cracks) I have always made it a policy to keep apocalyptic material AWAY from them. The miracle Nichols pulls off here is to reflect so expertly what happens when these symptoms first start developing through Curtis' mind.
A blue collar construction worker and generally an average man (Officer Van Alden from Boardwalk Empire: The Complete First Season is absent here) Curtis has a wonderful wife (Jessica Chastain who resembles Mia Farrow to an almost disturbing degree) and a sweet little girl who is handicapped (Tova Stewart). His buddy on the construction site (Shea Wigham)is the first one to really notice that something's just not right with our man. As the result of exactly one simple rainstorm, Curtis begins to develop brief but very potent hallucinations involving thunder, rain, and his dog. Since thunder can make certain canines so scared they turn vicious I'm pretty sure Nichols is not setting Curtis up as a prophet proper. He is trying to communicate the subtle and explosive panic developing in Curtis' mind.
The first move that lets you know this guy is hurting is when he makes a financially risky move on a tight budget, taking out a home improvement loan for an old tornado shelter. He puts his dog in a wire rimmed fence in the backyard though he's done nothing to deserve this punishment.
He then begins to stock up food, has his buddy help him steal equipment from work to dig a bigger tunnel in his yard, and gets laid off. His explosion at the Community Benefit Dinner is the most representative of the character's struggle, screaming about a storm that is coming with the zeal of a Pentecostal preacher from the work of Flannery O' Connor. The misery that mental illness of this kind inflicts on families is reflected almost perfectly here. His wife makes ends meet only after realizing her husband is disturbed.
The ending is what people are arguing about. It really could be anything--a shared subjective vision, a hallucination Curtis has when he is asleep and about to leave for the beach on the doctor's orders. I think Nichols was borrowing from The Last Wave (The Criterion Collection) and a quote in that film: "A dream is the shadow of something real."
This deserves the attention it's getting because it puts into mainstream view what severely mentally disturbed people suffer everyday. Not everyone can afford doctors, medication, and not all these stories have a happy ending. The best movie I've seen concerning this subject along with Bug (Special Edition) and Clean, Shaven (The Criterion Collection).
43 of 53 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
"Take Shelter" is a movie about courage - not physical courage, which is so easy to film, but emotional courage, a much more difficult kind of courage. That we wonder if our protagonist is really courageous or just crazy adds dimension and depth as Michael Shannon and the rest of the ensemble confront choices and chances, trust and doubt, while trying to keep their precariously comfortable lives from toppling into an abyss.
Superb storytelling with an especially strong an subtle performance from Shannon.
Superb storytelling with an especially strong an subtle performance from Shannon.
46 of 58 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
There is a lot of food for thought in this movie. In prior times, a man like Curtis would not be assumed to be mentally ill. The fact that he is having visions would be respected by both the bible and in native folk lore as he would be seen as a possible prophet in their midst. Curtis's mother has been in long time care since she was diagnosed as a schizophrenic. However, when we meet her, the question is really open as to her as well. We live in an age where science has decreed that things like portents, omens, seers, prophets and the like are impossible. That anyone who deals in this matter is just plain loco.
Curtis begins turning his storm shelter into more of an atomic bomb like shelter and runs into one person after another who is teed off at him, from his employer to his colleague to his wife. Yet he persists. What he sees is supported by reports which have been filed around catastrophes. For example, when tidal waves come in, birds do go crazy. They swarm and take off and some, in their hurry to get out, drop dead from the sky to the ground.
So the big question is whether Curtis is having a psychotic break with reality or if he is a seer who feels and sees a disaster coming. I know most people are going with the mental illness interpretation. Personally, I think since this this kind of person has been chronicled for thousands of years that it is possible that such a person could exist but does not want to broadcast his visions for precisely the reason that people will think he is insane.
Michael Shannon as Curtis and Jessica Chastain as his wife are both terrific.
One caution about this movie: it is very slow. If you are looking for a quick paced movie, this is not it.
Curtis begins turning his storm shelter into more of an atomic bomb like shelter and runs into one person after another who is teed off at him, from his employer to his colleague to his wife. Yet he persists. What he sees is supported by reports which have been filed around catastrophes. For example, when tidal waves come in, birds do go crazy. They swarm and take off and some, in their hurry to get out, drop dead from the sky to the ground.
So the big question is whether Curtis is having a psychotic break with reality or if he is a seer who feels and sees a disaster coming. I know most people are going with the mental illness interpretation. Personally, I think since this this kind of person has been chronicled for thousands of years that it is possible that such a person could exist but does not want to broadcast his visions for precisely the reason that people will think he is insane.
Michael Shannon as Curtis and Jessica Chastain as his wife are both terrific.
One caution about this movie: it is very slow. If you are looking for a quick paced movie, this is not it.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
It's not 'Mud"
We bought the video because we loved "Mud," the new movie by the same director, Jeff Nichols. Read more
Published 3 days ago by S. Tagliarino
5.0 out of 5 stars
take shelter
a very good movie the bluray is excellent all the actors in this movie are very good the special afects are excellent you will enjoy this movie.
Published 17 days ago by vernon egolf
2.0 out of 5 stars
quick, take shelter from a boring movie!
Take Shelter is about a small town Ohio man who strongly believes something bad is going to happen to him. Read more
Published 20 days ago by B. E Jackson
1.0 out of 5 stars
The movie is GREAT this is about the Bluray edition
We need a new edition of this Bluray, I can't believe they release a region A Bluray without Spanish subtitles! Region A is for the American Continent! Read more
Published 1 month ago by Pablo Villegas Silva
2.0 out of 5 stars
Worst Ending Ever
First, you must try to endure the mind numbing slow pace of this film. Michael Shannon's character spends most of the movie with the "deer caught in the headlights" look after... Read more
Published 1 month ago by J. P. Bass
4.0 out of 5 stars
Intense with a great story
Michael Shannon is an intense action, tighly wound, always realy to deliver a dramtic and fierce body of work. This movie was no different. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Ebony Reviewer
5.0 out of 5 stars
Blow winds and crack your cheeks hurricanoes
Take Shelter is a film for our times.It gives you the sense of impending doom that come from economic crises, climate change,the loss of our formerly secure way of life,the storm... Read more
Published 1 month ago by technoguy
3.0 out of 5 stars
Oil bad, crazy environmentalist messiah people good
So this movie could have been pretty cool, but it chose to be weird. If the movie had chosen to show the structural similarities between environmentalism and Christian theology in... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Robert Fowler
5.0 out of 5 stars
Movie
My movie arrived early which surprised me. The case was in great shape. The movie itself was very good. Thanks!
Published 1 month ago by Andrea B
2.0 out of 5 stars
Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't
Curtis (Michael Shannon) has dreams, visions, and panic attacks that show him a terrible storm is coming. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Billy Champarino
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