Take Shelter Story

Curtis (Michael Shannon) is a family man in his mid-30s. He works in construction, and tries to deal with the fact that he has a deaf daughter as well as he can. He has a happy enough marriage with wife Samantha (Jessica Chastain).

The problem is, he has started to things that indicate a heavily destructive storm coming, and yet nobody else seems to either see them or care. These visions are combined with seriously disturbing nightmares, and Curtis tries to cope in two ways: He starts researching mental illnesses, inspired by the fact that his mother (Kathy Baker) was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, and he also starts building an underground storm shelter.

He spends & borrows a lot of money without letting his wife know, and his visions have started to affect his work.

Is Curtis mentally ill? Or is he actually gifted in sensing things other can’t? Either way, it looks like Curtis’ personal and professional life will crack before he can find out…

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Take Shelter: Worth watching – despite the pace

I was looking forward to Take Shelter ever since I saw the trailer, which does a great job of reflecting both the premise and the mood of the movie. The problem is, what looks extremely gripping in a 2-minute trailer may not always be that exciting in a 2-hours-plus movie.

The acting is top-notch-especially with Michael Shannon. He is so good, he leaves you wondering why the hell he hasn’t scored a Golden Globe or even Oscar nomination. Jessica Chastain also does a great job as the loving wife who doesn’t know what to do with her husband as he is not letting her in. So no problems with the cast.

I fell in love with the premise right after the trailer. Written and directed by Jeff Nichols, what can be more intriguing than a protagonist that is likable and relatable, but yet that secretly makes us fear the safety of his family- because of him. And we keep wondering about his mental state, and whether or not he is crazy.

The movie, to me, has only one weak point-and that is the pacing. The director takes a little more time than necessary, and effective, to show us Michael’s state of relationships and mind. The premise is strong enough and the acting is good enough to make you deal with the dragging parts, but I think the movie would have been a lot more effective, had it been about 20 minutes shorter.

But all can be forgiven if you make it to the end, as it is pretty good. Some believe it is open to interpretation, some believe it couldn’t have been less ambiguous. Decide it for yourself. But one thing is for sure- despite the too slow moments, this movie is just not the same old story.

It also has a brilliant title, and question. Should Curtis take shelter with his family against the storm, or should he shelter them against himself?

Currently rated at 7.7. on IMDB.  I will give it a 7, though if the pacing had been a little faster, this movie would be a deserving 8.