Take Shelter

Theatrical Release Date: 2011 09 30 (USA - Limited)

UPC: 043396394971

Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainmt

MPAA Rating: R   Contains:[Adult Situations, Adult Language]

Summary: An Ohio family man experiences a series of disturbing visions that gradually begin to weigh on his marriage and community when he begins obsessively constructing a heavily fortified storm shelter. Curtis LaForche (Michael Shannon) has a good life. He lives in a beautiful house with his loving wife, Samantha (Jessica Chastain), and their deaf six-year-old daughter, Hannah (Tova Stewart), but begins to sense that something ominous is on the horizon when the dark clouds of swelling storms begin invading his dreams. Taciturn, Curtis refuses to discuss the dreams with anyone, but feels compelled to dig out a massive storm shelter with the help of a good friend (Shea Whigham). Meanwhile, as Samantha grows increasingly concerned with Curtis' erratic behavior, the local rumor mill begins to churn. Are Curtis' dreams a prophetic omen of things to come, or is he perhaps headed down the same dark road as his mother, who was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia when she was approximately the same age that he is now? ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Category: Drama

Awards: Film Presented – Sundance Film Festival Film Presented – Toronto International Film Festival Film Presented – London Film Festival Best Supporting Actress – New York Film Critics Circle Best Feature – Independent Spirit Awards Best Director – Independent Spirit Awards Best Male Lead – Independent Spirit Awards Best Independent Film – National Board of Review Best Picture – Detroit Film Critics Society Best Director – Detroit Film Critics Society Breakthrough Performance – Detroit Film Critics Society Best Screenplay – Detroit Film Critics Society Best Actor – New York Film Critics Online Breakthrough Performer – New York Film Critics Online Best Actor - Runner-up – L.A. Film Critics Association Best Supporting Actress – L.A. Film Critics Association Best Actor – Detroit Film Critics Society Best Supporting Actress – Detroit Film Critics Society Top Ten Film of the Year – New York Film Critics Online Best Supporting Actress – National Society of Film Critics Best Supporting Female – Independent Spirit Awards Producers Award – Independent Spirit Awards

Features: Deleted Scenes
Commentary with Jeff Nichols & Michael Shannon
Behind the Scenes of Take Shelter
Q&A with Michael Shannon & Shea Whigham

Take Shelter

Format: DVD

Release Date: 02/14/2012

Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Cinemascope

Audio: DD5.1 Dolby Digital 5.1, DD2 Dolby Digital Stereo

Runtime: 121 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English

Subtitles: English,French

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Disc #1 -- Take Shelter
1. Scene 1 [6:43]
2. Scene 2 [8:02]
3. Scene 3 [6:14]
4. Scene 4 [8:06]
5. Scene 5 [6:23]
6. Scene 6 [7:39]
7. Scene 7 [5:53]
8. Scene 8 [8:15]
9. Scene 9 [4:45]
10. Scene 10 [7:06]
11. Scene 11 [8:46]
12. Scene 12 [5:37]
13. Scene 13 [1:18]
14. Scene 14 [9:17]
15. Scene 15 [8:25]
16. Scene 16 [8:11]

Jason Buchanan

Mental illness can be an incredibly difficult subject matter to portray in film; even if the screenplay is written with sincerity and a genuine sense of authenticity, a poor performance or misguided directorial choices can easily taint the whole endeavor. In Take Shelter, writer/director Jeff Nichols presents a sensitive and extraordinarily expressive profile of a hardworking family man contending with the slow onset of schizophrenia. With the talented Michael Shannon in the lead and a screenplay that allows the audience inside his character's head as his mental deterioration progresses, the viewer can't help but get emotionally involved. Curtis LaForche (Michael Shannon) has a good life. He lives in a beautiful house with his loving wife, Samantha (Jessica Chastain), and their deaf six-year-old daughter, Hannah (Tova Stewart), but he begins to sense that something ominous is on the horizon when the dark clouds of swelling storms begin invading his dreams. The taciturn Curtis refuses to discuss the dreams with anyone, but he feels compelled to dig out a massive storm shelter with the help of his good friend Dewart (Shea Whigham). Meanwhile, as Samantha grows increasingly concerned with Curtis' erratic behavior, the local rumor mill begins to churn. Are Curtis' dreams an omen of things to come, or is he perhaps headed down the same dark road as his mother, who was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia when she was approximately the same age that he is now? With a filmography that reads like the inmate list at a small psych ward, Take Shelter star Shannon has excelled at portraying deeply disturbed characters in movies such as Bug and Revolutionary Road. Here, Shannon infuses Curtis LaForche's increasing instability with a sense of desperation that makes it impossible for the viewer not to sympathize as he becomes a pariah at his job, in his community, and -- most painfully of all -- in his own home. Curtis is a man whose body exists in the real world, while his mind is being sucked helplessly into a darker mirror image of reality where his loved ones have turned malevolent and Mother Nature has decided to strike back against mankind. Shannon's quietly intense performance conveys the anguish of such an agonizing experience in a way that never feels exploitive or overplayed. He's simply a man who seeks to protect his family, but can't realize that he may be the biggest threat of all. A powerful scene in which Curtis nervously visits his schizophrenic mother in an assisted-care facility not only says quite a bit about the protagonist's character -- he remains dutifully composed while his fate becomes frighteningly clear -- but also about writer Nichols' talent as a screenwriter who recognizes the power of minimalism. Meanwhile, as a director, Nichols creates such an intense aura of dread and impending apocalypse during the visions that when Curtis simply describes one that is not shown in the film, we shudder at the mental image it paints. Curtis' wife Samantha is without question the character in the film who bears the most of his mental breakdown, and actress Jessica Chastain beautifully conveys the conflicting fear, anger, and concern that goes along with watching her husband's painful deterioration. Likewise, rising actor Whigham continues his winning streak of colorful supporting characters; in films such as Machete and Barry Munday, Whigham has displayed a penchant for the cartoonish, but by toning it down in Take Shelter, the talented supporting player displays a flair for drama that has been conspicuously absent from many of his higher profile roles. Despite the surreal flourishes on display during Curtis' dreams and hallucinations, Take Shelter unfolds in a straightforward manner that is only betrayed in the film's final scene -- a tantalizingly abstract coda that seems to be more figurative than literal. And while some may question Nichols' decision to abruptly depart from his realistic approach so late in the game, the ending is intriguing more for what it doesn't show, rather than for what it does. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Sarah Green  Executive Producer 
David Wingo  Composer (Music Score) 
Tyler Davidson  Producer 
Greg Strause  Executive Producer 
Colin Strause  Executive Producer 
Sophia Lin  Producer 
Jeff Nichols  Director 
Jeff Nichols  Screenwriter 
Christos V. Konstantakopoulos  Executive Producer 
Brian Kavanaugh-Jones  Executive Producer 
Richard Rothfeld  Executive Producer 
Chris Perot  Executive Producer 
Michael Shannon  Actor 
Jessica Chastain  Actor 
Tova Stewart  Actor 
Shea Whigham  Actor 
Katy Mixon  Actor 
Natasha Randall  Actor 
Ron Kennard  Actor 
Scott Knisley  Actor 
Robert Longstreet  Actor 
Heather Caldwell  Actor 
Sheila Hullihen  Actor 
John Kloock  Actor 
Maryanna Alacchi  Actor 
Jacque Jovic  Actor 
Bob Maines  Actor 
Charles Moore  Actor 
Pete Ferry  Actor 
Molly McGinnis  Actor 
Angie Marino-Smith  Actor 
Isabelle Smith  Actor 
Tina Stump  Actor 
Ken Strunk  Actor 
Maryann Nagel  Actor 
Hailee Dickens  Actor 
Kathy Baker  Actor 
Guy Van Swearingen  Actor 
Lisa Gay Hamilton  Actor 
William Alexander  Actor 
Joanna Tyler  Actor 
Stuart Greer  Actor 
Ray McKinnon  Actor 
Jake Lockwood  Actor 
Kim Hendrickson  Actor 
Bart Flynn  Actor 
Nick Koesters  Actor 
Jeffrey Grover  Actor 

Country: USA