Take Shelter (SPOILERS!)

[RottenAtom]

Discussion continued from the Recommend a Movie thread. Spoilers allowed.

Finally watched this and enjoyed it. Michael Shannon nailed his performance.

takeshelter.jpg (8.86 KiB) Viewed 454 times

He was great but I was bummed out by the movie. The promotional stuff sold it as some Biblical rage, end-of-the-world stuff and it was anything but. And the very ending -- WTF was that about? Not to spoil anything, but doing what it did means he was right or he was still wrong -- in either case it ruins the whole thing. You're the first person I've seen praise the movie. Everyone else feels kinda...taken.

The way I see it, the ending definitely leaves it ambiguous. Just when you think you've got him pegged as a paranoid schizophrenic the storm comes. So either he's not "crazy" and he was actually having premonitions of the storm, or he does suffer from paranoid schizophrenia and is having another "dream." I'm not sure what I think, but I love the ambiguity.

I thought it was a great slow-burn. With 20 minutes left, I was on the edge of my seat and had no idea what was going to happen. I was thinking "Is he going to open the door and let them out of the Shelter or go nutso on his family? If he does open it, what the hell is going on up there?" The suspense was thick.

A defined ending wasn't really necessary, imo. At it's base it's a love story. It's about a marriage and a family and all the shit they go through. In the end, they're still committed to each other despite everything- regardless of which way the ending goes.

I may be off track, but that's what I take from it after one viewing.

I try and avoid promotion for movies, because expectations have a way of ruining things. I went in blind and was pleased with how it turned out. So glad it wasn't your typical "brink of apocalypse" movie.

The cast did a terrific job, and that scene where Michael Shannon goes off and flips the table was incredible. I heard that wasn't scripted and the "extras" were a bunch of locals. After the first take (the one they used) some of them couldn't take the drama and asked to be excused.

[Codeblue]

I enjoyed it and happen to believe the storm came just as he thought it would.

[DrScott44]

I agree that the storm was actually there--as in, it wasn't a dream-- but one thing my film geek friends and I can't seem to agree on is whether or not the storm's apocalyptic.

I think the discolored/oily rain is indicative of the storm being something more than your garden-variety thunderstorm, but I don't know that it's an "end of days" kinda thing.

Don't know, but hope it is.

[seeker1115]

I liked the ending, but I thought the freak-out scene was the pinnacle. Seeing him finally lose it after he's been trying to stay calm the entire movie, and get back at his dick friend was so gratifying.
It's a drymounting sham that Michael Shannon didn't at least get a nomination for Best Actor this year.

[karza]

really enjoyed this movie too and glad to see it has some fans here

[FlapJack]

Nice interpretation Rotten.

My sentiment matches Codeblue's statement. I thought the pinnacle was fighting through his fear of leaving the shelter. The flipping out in the cafeteria scene was great too though. Shannon is so good.

Tough watch, but a good one.

[daviddelgadoh]

Love this film.

Isn't the very last line "oh," as the wife sees the storm?
That, to me, is crucial because no matter what you think about whether or not he was actually crazy, it shows the wife accepting her husband for who he is regardless of the "truth" of the matter - which really hit me hard. What a team, those two.
I was talking to someone else about it and they just looked at it literally, but that ending is just one great big metaphor. That's how it worked for me at least.

[Kramerica]

I really enjoyed this film, mostly because it focused on the characters rather than then what exactly the storm was. I think the audience never really knowing exactly what was going to happen really allowed some identification with the uncertainty and fear that Curtis was feeling. The crazies breaking into his car to abduct his daughter and especially the scene with the furniture kind of hovering in the air as if the house were falling were both pretty intense and reinforced this.

Without great acting this movie could have been really flat but Shannon knocked it out of the park and Nichols wrote a great script. I like Shannon on Boardwalk Empire and it is good to see he is not one dimensional.

[RottenAtom]

Good stuff, guys. Nice to hear your take on it

[selassielion]

Huge fan of this film. I took the ending as well for justification - either of his mental illness or premonition being correct. The ambiguity made it better imo.

[churdiales]

A defined ending wasn't really necessary, imo. At it's base it's a love story. It's about a marriage and a family and all the shit they go through. In the end, they're still committed to each other despite everything- regardless of which way the ending goes.

I may be off track, but that's what I take from it after one viewing.

I think you nailed it with this interpretation.

To me, the ending was the beginning of the end. His love for his child and wife never culminate and his mind, throughout the movie, is advising him to put them out of danger. He does everything in his power to do so, and is rewarded at the end with that "oh", almost like "you were right" ("by the way, thank god for that shelter you built for us, honey...").

(And I know it's a movie, but how on earth would that UNDERGROUND shelter be equipped to forgo a FLOOD/MAJOR THUNDERSTORM... it... is... underground... wouldn't that defeat the purpose, water coming in?)

Anyway, I also loved Shannon in that movie with DiCaprio and Winslet (not Titanic), is it Revolutionary Road? He plays a person who suffers from schizophrenia (real one in this case), as well. He is also in Groundhog Day for like 2 minutes... what other movies has he been in?

Great performances by both main characters, I would have to add that Jessica Chastain, (who is also in Tree of Life) is amazing.

[dylanosaur]

Just saw this over the weekend and at first I thought the storm might be real at the end but then went back to the second to last scene. They are discussing him leaving his family to go to therapy at a hospital. I think the final scene could be what is going on in his head in a future therapy session at the new facility. The fact that his family is seeing the storm with him, hence the wife saying "ok" is his first step of many to freeing his mind of these delusions. They obviously used all the beach money on his other expenses so I really don't think they actually took this dream vacation. However, if the storm was supposed to be real, it can be seen a COMPLETELY different movie. I just happened to see the movie as a film about increasing paranoia and the affect it has on this individual and his family. If the storm was supposed to be real, it is a film about premonition of almost biblical proportions.

[tehhippy]

Finally watched this. Jesus, Michael Shannon is good. Jessica Chastain deserves to keep getting bigger and bigger roles too. Very nuanced and great performances from both.

Now I may actually watch My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done.

[MalachiConstant]

An incredible film and performances. However, the last minute and a half had no business being in that film. They spend the entire length of the film displaying an amazing and heartbreaking look at mental illness, and then the director goes, "psych, he's drymounting MAGICAL!"

[daviddelgadoh]

and then the director goes, "psych, he's drymounting MAGICAL!"

Nah, I disagree. I think he gives you more than enough room for something other than a literal interpretation.