Sundance 2011 Review: TAKE SHELTER

 

Remember Field of Dreams? Take out all the heartwarming moments, replace them with a heavy sense of dread and an edge-of-your-seat tension, and you have Take Shelter, Jeff Nichols' phenomenal new film about one man's vision of the end of the world. For the record, I think this is the best film of Sundance 2011 and predict it will be on my "favorites of the year" list in 11 months.

Sony Pictures Classics picked this up the day before Sundance even began, and rightly so: if any movie here deserves to be seen by a wider audience, it's this one. Every element - story, characters, cinematography, score, and especially performances - meshes together to create a powerful film that is not only a study of potential insanity, but also a morality tale about the value of communication in relationships. It's rare that movies elicit physiological responses in me, but this one had my stomach tightened the entire time. From the opening shots of Michael Shannon's character watching the wind blowing through branches, the movie represents (from the writer/director's own words in a Q&A) "a snapshot of a feeling that's out in the world right now." Thanks to a few early dream sequences, we're never truly sure what we're seeing is real; if you liked the psychological journey in Aronofsky's Black Swan, you should find similar enjoyment here. And though Black Swan concentrates a bit more on the horror aspects, Take Shelter depends on an unsettling feeling that anything could happen at any moment, and the sense of dread that pervades the film is a direct result of that.

Michael Shannon is monumental as Curtis, a working class guy with a wife and daughter who begins having vivid dreams of a storm rolling into town. The basic plot elements of the movie involve him dealing with these delusions and the repercussions of his decisions on his family as he sets about building a storm shelter in his backyard. I know, I know - it doesn't sound interesting in the slightest. But Nichols' writing is a wonderful example of set up and pay off, and though we're never truly sure of the reality of Curtis' situation, Nichols' strong directing makes it clear that the consequences of Curtis' decisions are more important than the decisions themselves. Shannon grounds the performance and makes a seemingly-unrelatable character sympathetic; it's the best performance of the festival and has a real chance of winning him an Oscar this time next year.

Bryce Dallas Howard look-a-like Jessica Chastain shines next to Shannon as his wife Samantha, providing the emotional base for the film and exemplifying the type of dedication that (I'd imagine) a successful marriage is all about. She's wonderful as a care-giver to the couple's deaf daughter, shouldering the weight of dealing with her child's disability and her husband's increasingly erratic behavior.

Another important factor for me: there's no pretention in Take Shelter at all. Nichols knows how to make an intelligent movie without infusing it with the kind of hipster garbage and self-importance that runs through Miranda July's The Future and things of its ilk. Sure, the movie itself is a giant metaphor, but he treats it with respect instead of the self-aware irony with which lesser filmmakers may tackle similar subject matter. The score was excellent as well, with tinkling high piano notes and atonal vibrations contributing to the general unease that permeates the film.

It's impossible to fully describe why I loved this movie without giving away key plot points, so instead I'll leave you with my highest recommendation that you check this out when its released later this year. This is not a movie for everybody - I can certainly see some complaints of slow pacing and a tone that's perhaps a bit too contemplative - but I found it utterly compelling and totally mesmerizing. Take Shelter is easily one of the best films of 2011 so far, and I don't see that status changing as the year goes on.

(For Dr. Venkman's thoughts on the movie, click here.)

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