TAKE SHELTER

October 25, 2011

 Greetings again from the darkness. What a beautiful piece of filmmaking that up-and-coming writer/director Jeff Nichols (Shotgun Stories) delivers. Not only will the story grab you and hold tightly, but Michael Shannon‘s performance will stun your senses. All of that from a film with very few special effects and a story based in a quiet, rural Ohio town? Yes.

Shannon (Boardwalk Empire, Revolutionary Road) plays Curtis, a quiet, hard-working husband and father. His friend and co-worker Dewart is played by Shea Whigham (also Boardwalk Empire). Early on, Dewart tells Curtis (with a touch of envy) that he has a good life, and that’s about the best thing you can say about a man. It’s about this time that all heck breaks loose for Curtis. He has vivid apocalyptic dreams and visions that a world-changing storm is coming.

 Being the strong man and protective head of the family that he is, Curtis tries to keep this quiet. However, his behavior grows more strange as he builds out a storm shelter in the backyard, gets rid of the family dog, and messes things up at work. These things wouldn’t stand out for most people, but Curtis is the “normal” guy – the one who is consistent and predictable. At least he once was.

 Curtis’ wife Samantha (Jessica Chastain) and hearing impaired daughter Hannah (Tova Stewart) are supportive and try to give him space, but the family demands are such that a husband and wife confrontation is not long in the making. Turns out Curtis has a family history that drives him to dig a little deeper and even seek help.

After much emotional wrangling, there is a scene at a community dinner where Curtis and Dewart have it out. Shannon’s rant is one of the more powerful scenes you will ever see on film, and may have just clinched him an Oscar nomination.

 This is a thought-provoking and emotional film that doesn’t beat you over the head. Things unfold at a natural pace, in fact, it may be too slow for some viewers. The score is haunting and never once over-bearing as we battled through these stages with Curtis.

The ending may prove controversial, but I just smiled a very satisfied smile in appreciation of one beautiful film. There could be comparisons to Peter Weir’s The Last Wave, or even the Coen Brothers’ A Serious Man (sans humor), but to me, this one stands on its own as a story of love, support and strength.

SEE THIS MOVIE IF: you want to see an Oscar worthy film with an Oscar worthy performance

SKIP THIS MOVIE IF: you have your own apocalyptic visions and don’t need to borrow anyone else’s!

watch the trailer:

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Posted by David Ferguson

MACHINE GUN PREACHER

October 7, 2011

 Greetings again from the darkness. Movies based on true stories and real people tend to receive the benefit of the doubt from me, even when they exaggerate those truths and characters. At the beginning of the movie, Sam Childers is an ex-con, druggie, gun-loving drug dealer, thug, lousy dad, worse husband, and overall man of failed character. When he finds God, he loses the drugs but the only other thing that really changes is his postal address.  All of that is based on the real life Childers.

 Sam Childers sees himself as a modern day crusader working to make a better life for the war orphans in Sudan. It’s impossible to argue that he hasn’t had an impact on lives. The real question is, at what cost and by what methods? Over the closing credits, we even get a clip of the real Sam asking us “does it matter how?”.

You will find no debate here for whether or not this man has made a difference or whether his methods should be judged. This space is merely for analyzing the movie which is telling a story. Gerard Butler does an admirable job making Sam a somewhat sympathetic character. Re-read my first paragraph if you think that’s easy! Michelle Monaghan plays Lynn, his incredibly supportive wife who actually helped Sam find God, rather than continue his criminal, drug-addled ways with friend Donnie (Michael Shannon).

 While I found the story of the Sudanese children to be heart-breaking, the choppy and fragmented manner in which it’s presented was quite annoying. The story began in 1998 but we never really knew what year it was or how much time had passed between Sam’s trips home. Many of the gun battle scenes came across very staged and set-up for a cool shot of Butler brandishing a weapon and bandanna.  The photo at left is Gerald Butler discussing a scene with Sam Childers.

The production value of the film is surprising considering it’s directed by Marc Foster, who has many fine films to his credit (Monster’s Ball, Finding Neverland).  While watching, I had the feeling that there must have been some omitted scenes, and others were edited to the point of being nearly incoherent. 

So while I found the story to be quite interesting, I found the delivery to be less than adequate. This despite fine performances from Butler, Monaghan, Shannon, Kathy Baker and Madeline Carroll. There are numerous magazine articles about Sam Childers and I believe you will find those more accurate and informative.

SEE THIS MOVIE IF: you are up for an interesting story about a fascinating real life man, and you can overlook the shoddy presentation OR you just want to see Gerald Butler looking cool with a machine gun!

SKIP THIS MOVIE IF: you would rather read an article about the real life Sam Childers than watch chopped up version of his story.

watch the trailer:

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Posted by David Ferguson

THE RUNAWAYS (2010)

March 20, 2010

 Greetings again from the darkness. Getting dragged back to the mid-70’s can be quite fun, especially when the topic is rock ‘n roll. Based on lead singer Cherie Currie’s autobiography, this film provides an overview of the formation, sudden fame, and equally sudden dismantling of the first all-girl’s rock band, The Runaways.

Joan Jett was the heart of the band, but it took oddball music producer Kim Fowley to put the band together and get the recording deal. Fowley may be the most interesting character in this story. Here he is played with force by the very talented Michael Shannon (Revolutionary Road).

Instead, the story focuses on Cherie Currie and Joan Jett, mostly Currie, since it is her book! Dakota Fanning plays Cherie Currie as a confused 15 year old with a messed up family life. The family includes a mom, played by Tatum O’Neal, who announces she is getting married and moving to Indonesia. Currie’s dad is a very sick alcoholic, so she is an easy recruit for Fowley and Jett. Jett is played balls-out by Kristen Stewart. Yes, Kristen Stewart from Twilight. Here she shows much more of the talent we saw prior to the Twilight series. She captures the fire and spirit of Joan Jett and leaves little doubt she will pursue her dreams despite all obstacles.  For a touch of trivia, note that Cherie’s sister Marie is played by Riley Keough … granddaughter of Elvis Presley.  It’s her big screen debut.

Overall, the script comes up short and provides us little more than headlines and a quick glimpse. Would have expected much more on talented guitarist Lita Ford, who continues to work today. For a quick intro to the story of The Runaways, this one is fine. Just don’t expect much depth.

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Posted by David Ferguson

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