Envisioning the end of the world in ‘Take Shelter’

Take Shelter, the new film from writer-director Jeff Nichols, is like an unexpected rain shower on a spring evening. It slowly creeps up on you and obliterates your expectations. It stands as one of the strongest films of 2011 and a sad reminder that the Oscar umbrella doesn’t extend over every cinematic gem.

Michael Shannon, one of our generation’s greatest actors, plays Curtis, a good family man with a decent-paying job in rural Ohio. While he’s not spending time with his wife Samantha (Jessica Chastain) and daughter Hannah (Tova Stewart), Curtis toils on construction sites with his co-workers, men he’s known long enough to call friends. Everything is fairly tranquil. They even have a dog and a perfect view of pastoral farmland.

The changes for the family are mostly barometric in nature. Curtis begins having nightmares about a looming storm that will bring destructive tornadoes, acid-like rain and perhaps even the apocalypse. The dreams are so vivid and real that he’s convinced of their prophetic power. Compelled by the visions, Curtis begins isolating himself from his family and starts construction on a storm shelter in his backyard.

For Samantha, the change in her husband is extremely distressing. Their daughter is deaf and awaiting cochlear surgery, a procedure that is thankfully covered by Curtis’s health insurance. But when Curtis stops showing up for work and begins to break some rules, all in the name of his new storm shelter, Samantha begins to realize their economic security is gone with the wind and her husband may be suffering from mental illness.

Take Shelter deals with big ideas, but it never feels like a big movie. The film is finely focused around this family and how it deals with increasingly difficult obstacles. We never view the outside world or care too much about other problems. This is all about Curtis, Samantha and Hannah. Nichols is smart to focus his attention on this nuclear family. We get to know them over the course of the film’s 120 minutes, understanding their love for one another, and also their failings. They appear to be the perfect family in middle America: hard-working, weekend-loving, God-fearing people. But we soon realize that their facade is an untrustworthy veneer. Behind closed doors, they struggle with the weight of the world.

Shannon’s powerhouse performance is subtle and effective. Curtis is smart enough to realize that his mind might be fractured, so this makes Shannon’s delivery very unique. So used to the status quo, he can’t digest the fact that everything is changing.

Watch how Shannon chews on words and contemplates his next move. When characters talk to him, one can tell he’s processing them like Curtis would process them. He’s slow to anger, but increasingly losing his control.

Chastain, who had a banner year in 2011, is equally skilled. She’s the stalwart, the rock for the family to rely upon. She makes pillows during the week so she can sell them at flea markets, and seemingly gives her entire life to her daughter’s wellbeing. But when she discovers Curtis’s struggle with apocalyptic dreams, Samantha comes to acknowledge that she now has two people to take care of.

Nichols and his talented cast have made a quality film that feels original and revelatory. In a very measured manner, it follows the unspooling of a family from the inside out.

By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com

• Take Shelter

• 2011

• Written and directed by Jeff Nichols

• Starring Michael Shannon, Jessica Chastain and Tova Stewart

• Running time: 121 minutes

• Rated R for some language

• DVD features: deleted scenes, commentary with Nichols and Shannon, behind-the-scenes featurette and Q&A with Shannon and Shea Whigham

• Rating: