There seems little doubt that 2011 belongs to Ryan Gosling and Jessica Chastain. The previously unassuming-looking actor is in no fewer than three movies playing in theaters now. He surprised as the smooth ladies’ man in “Crazy, Stupid, Love,” he held us rapt with few words in “Drive,” and he held his own against George Clooney in “The Ides of March.” The red-headed actress has had a similarly spectacular year. She was one of the only authentic things about “The Help,” she got tough and vulnerable, channeling Helen Mirren, in “The Debt,” and she held her own against Brad Pitt in “The Tree of Life.”
Sadly, she’s not given much to do in her latest film, “Take Shelter.” In fact, no one is, not even the movie’s star, Michael Shannon. It’s a strange thing to say about a film centering on a man who begins having visions — are they part of a prophecy or signs of mental illness? — of a coming apocalypse.
| On screen |
| ‘Take Shelter’ |
| 2.5 out of 4 stars |
| Stars: Michael Shannon, Jessica Chastain |
| Director: Jeff Nichols |
| Rated: R for some language |
| Running time: 120 minutes |
Curtis (Shannon) keeps those visions from his wife, Samantha (Chastain). We don’t know if it’s because he doesn’t want to alarm her or doesn’t want to argue with her. They already have enough tension in their lives. Curtis is a construction worker, a skilled one, whose grumbling boss makes it difficult to get home on time to Samantha and their young daughter, who is deaf.
Still, they have a sort of happiness. As a man says in the film, telling someone he has a good life, as Curtis has, is the biggest compliment: “He’s doing something right.” But soon his dreams will haunt not just his sleep but his waking hours — and his wife will begin to think he’s doing something wrong. He takes to building a shelter to protect the family he loves from what he thinks is a coming storm. But the viewer — and even Curtis — soon starts to wonder: Can he protect them from himself?
Michael Shannon was born to play men a little off-kilter. Well, let’s be honest: He’s frighteningly good at playing crazy people. We don’t know whether he really is nuts, of course, but that just adds to the suspense.
The very little level of suspense this movie holds, that is. It’s slow-moving to the point of dullness. At least until the end, when the questions the audience asks reach a breaking point. They may or may not be answered.
The level of Jessica Chastain’s talent isn’t one of those questions. The arresting actress, who seems to have come out of nowhere, is just as preoccupying here as in the better films she’s appeared in this year.
