It's decent. Nichols' aesthetic is restrained and somewhat plain - though the nightmarish hallucinations are undeniably effective - and Michael Shannon is great (as always) and mostly understated - save for his terrific preacher-esque explosion near the end. But the film never quite seems to take off like it should, and the climactic scene is ridiculously heavy-handed and borderline hilarious. It's nearly saved, though, by the fantastic finale, which thankfully turns the film from just another psychological thriller into something more. Perhaps an obvious way to end things, but I loved it.

The imagery is stunning throughout, so it's a shame it wasn't in service of something a little greater. It's still a fine film, though.

My review: http://www.worldofkj.com/article.php?i=474

Anyone who even remotely appreciates this film, PLEASE PLEASE see The Last Wave. It has a similar vibe and is very underrated.

I saw this last night and it's definitely not going to be on my top 10 list at the end of the year, but I thought it was a very good, well made film. Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain (where did this girl come from? She has been amazing this year!) give two performances that definitely should be remembered come Oscar time, though I doubt they will since this did next to nothing at the box office. The scene in the shelter was really great stuff and I was on the edge of my seat (but dear lord, why do I find it so funny when people wear gas masks? I had this problem in Insidious ) and honestly, I think it would have been better if the film ended as Chastain opened the door and we never knew whether the storm was real or not. Thought provoking flick with great performance. Check it out.

8/10

I loved the ending myself as well. Thought it made the film better.


TAKE SHELTER - 8/10

Haven't decided on a B+ or A- yet, probably the latter. Think I'll watch it again and make my decision. Great movie though. Shannon and Chastain give great performances. I thought the scene in the shelter was pretty intense. My mind was racing with different ways it could play out, and most of them weren't good. The ending was great and honestly fairly surprising.

Are you sure? You didn't LOVE The Descendants and that is at #10. Oh wait, technically it's not since it's at #11. You just have it as #10 along with The Help. If you watch it again I could see this breaking in to your top 10, and in the future then maybe you'll learn not to say definitely when something is not definite .

I haven't updated my top 10 in like twomonths

The best thing about this movie is definitely the cinematography. Each scene is wonderful to look at.

The plot is a bit thin. It's a kind of a modern take on the classic Bible Noah tale. I like how the dreams played into his relationships with people around him. I like the fact that there was a constant fine line between "he's crazy" and "he's prophetic" outcome. But overall the movie is a bit pointless. It builds wonderful atmosphere, has believable characters and it all falls apart with the final twist, that might not be a twist after all. "It's all good, sorry I doubted you honey. Let's go to the shelter." - and all the family drama that unfolded in an interesting way is wiped out. If the movie cut when the girl started to stare into something we didn't see I would appreciate the ambiguity much more.

*** / ***** (C)

Yes stunning imagery but I struggled to stay awak. A shame as I'm a big fan of the leads.