....and why not? Look at what we have here:
1. An intriguing film trailer that could capture the attention of just about any fan of the sci fi/horror/ doomsday genre.
2. Michael Shannon & Jessica Chastain, 2 very talented, if not somewhat stereotyped actors.
3. And speaking for myself, as someone who grew up in the Midwest: a person who's been fascinated by tornadoes since my grade school years.
4. Amazing, albeit brief, CGI effects.
By all rights, this film could've/should've worked for me. But it's not the first time a film's trailer has overamped the overall quality and essence of what turned out to be, essentially, 2 hours of my life wasted.
SPOILERS***********
First, director Nichols is trying to stress the breakdown of the marriage via Shannon's nightmares. Fair enough, but the underplayed, low-key series of revelations gets tiresome after awhile, until we feel like we've been drawn into an afternoon soap opera.
Second, with the overblown scene at the Lion's Club dinner added in to assumingly "spice things up," it takes all but the last 4-5 minutes of the film to reach the point of genuine fear and awe with the movie's inevitable climax. You heard me correctly: almost the full 2 hours, taken up with BUILD-UP.
Third, and most unforgivable, IMHO, you can see that climax coming from 100 miles away.
And fourth, that climax is DOWNPLAYED to the point of disbelief. I mean, I SEE what Nichols was ultimately trying to do with this entire project: make an "art film." Don't intensify or stress ANY part of the movie to tell the story and/or make your point. Keep everything on the down-low. And in the few seconds before the film ends, when the abject horror of the subject matter could have made for a nightmarish, unforgettable ending, we're treated to the main characters, seeing their world about to come to an end, with a shrugged-shoulders attitude, the rough equivalent of, "Well...looks like it's gonna rain."
To be fair, I'm not saying every sci-fi/horror story has to have an in-your-face, pounded into your head ending. But I maintain that, even with "art films," there can often be a very fine (if not blurred) line between a slam-bang ending, and a low-key ending that makes you silently fill with feelings of shock and awe. It's JMHO that Nichols took the wrong path with Take Shelter.
2. Michael Shannon & Jessica Chastain, 2 very talented, if not somewhat stereotyped actors.
3. And speaking for myself, as someone who grew up in the Midwest: a person who's been fascinated by tornadoes since my grade school years.
4. Amazing, albeit brief, CGI effects.
By all rights, this film could've/should've worked for me. But it's not the first time a film's trailer has overamped the overall quality and essence of what turned out to be, essentially, 2 hours of my life wasted.
SPOILERS***********
First, director Nichols is trying to stress the breakdown of the marriage via Shannon's nightmares. Fair enough, but the underplayed, low-key series of revelations gets tiresome after awhile, until we feel like we've been drawn into an afternoon soap opera.
Second, with the overblown scene at the Lion's Club dinner added in to assumingly "spice things up," it takes all but the last 4-5 minutes of the film to reach the point of genuine fear and awe with the movie's inevitable climax. You heard me correctly: almost the full 2 hours, taken up with BUILD-UP.
Third, and most unforgivable, IMHO, you can see that climax coming from 100 miles away.
And fourth, that climax is DOWNPLAYED to the point of disbelief. I mean, I SEE what Nichols was ultimately trying to do with this entire project: make an "art film." Don't intensify or stress ANY part of the movie to tell the story and/or make your point. Keep everything on the down-low. And in the few seconds before the film ends, when the abject horror of the subject matter could have made for a nightmarish, unforgettable ending, we're treated to the main characters, seeing their world about to come to an end, with a shrugged-shoulders attitude, the rough equivalent of, "Well...looks like it's gonna rain."
To be fair, I'm not saying every sci-fi/horror story has to have an in-your-face, pounded into your head ending. But I maintain that, even with "art films," there can often be a very fine (if not blurred) line between a slam-bang ending, and a low-key ending that makes you silently fill with feelings of shock and awe. It's JMHO that Nichols took the wrong path with Take Shelter.