Review of Take Shelter (2011) by Ed B — 09 Oct 2012

Wanted to like it, but the story just goes nowhere. I have no idea why the critics are in love with this. It's nicely shot, has some great acting and some nice effects, but that's it. When you get down to brass taxes, it's just a horribly poorly written screenplay. It's as if the writer had no idea how to end it.The third act is all over the place. For example, I appreciate the fact the the little girl is deaf. I figured that somehow it was going to be central to the plot. Nope, turns out she's just deaf. That's fine, but it comes across as a red herring. That's just one of the many flaws.The pacing winds up being another frustrating character in this piece too. At first you enjoy the slow, methodical, purpose driven nature of it. However, when you get to the halfway point you're thinking "Man, I hope this is going somewhere." When finally get to the very end you're thinking, "This better have been worth it." Sadly it's not. Not even close.

** EDIT.

Rewatched it several times since the first review. I now see the simple genius of it...