Review of Shotgun Stories (2007) by Melvin W — 25 May 2013

Son Hayes: We don't own the square-root of shit.

Shotgun Stories was the directorial debut of Jeff Nichols and it also was his first collaboration with Michael Shannon. Before the two would go on to make a masterpiece with Take Shelter, they made this masterpiece, that I may like even more then Take  Shelter. I love the way in which Nichols makes movies. This guy has a pace that's all his own and he isn't afraid of moving slow and keeping his films strangely quiet. It helps even more that he saw how perfect Michael Shannon was for this story, and also Take Shelters. Shannon is the perfect actor to keep a quiet movie like this going for an hour and a half. .

This film involves two sides of a family. One is brother, Son, Kid, and Boy, who's father left them, when they were young. The other is the fathers second family he made in the same Arkansas town. The two families hate each other. When the father dies, Son shows up at the funeral and insults his dead father, which sets off a chain reaction. As the feud escalates, inevitable questions about the worth of the fight come up.

The story unfolds slowly, and never really speeds up the whole runtime. Nichols knows exactly how to take his time with his films and I love his style. The film looks beautiful and has some beautiful music as well. The cast, although mostly unknowns to me, is phenomenal and really drive home the down south, country element of the film nicely.

Shotgun Stories is one of the best films I've seen in quite a while. I know it isn't a well known film, but seek this one out at all costs. It just shows the excellence that is Nichols and Shannon. Especially watch this if you've seen Take Shelter and enjoyed it. Shotgun Stories is extremely similar to that one in tone and how it is made. This is a masterpiece.