Shotgun Stories (2007)

Director:

Jeff Nichols

Writer:

Jeff Nichols (writer)

Release Date:

26 March 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller

Plot:

Shotgun Stories tracks a feud that erupts between two sets of half brothers following the death of their father...

Plot Keywords:

Half Brother | Shotgun | Mother Son Relationship | Farm | Knocked Unconscious

Awards:

4 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

  (Credited cast)

Michael Shannon	...	Son Hayes
Douglas Ligon	...	Boy Hayes
Barlow Jacobs	...	Kid Hayes
Natalie Canerday	...	Nicole
Glenda Pannell	...	Annie Hayes
Lynnsee Provence	...	Stephen Hayes
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Michael Abbott Jr.	...	Cleaman Hayes
Coley Canpany	...	Cheryl
Lance Christopher	...	Fish Farm Worker
Will Hahn	...	Farm Hand
Gary Hawkins	...	J.J.
Cole Hendrixson	...	Carter
Mark W. Johnson	...	Amos
Tom Kagy	...	Red
Vivian Morrison Norman	...	Melissa
Hannah Payne	...	Funeral Attendee
Cosmo Pfeil	...	Norman
Tucker Prentiss	...	Paul
Wyatt Ashton Prentiss	...	Kevin
David Rhodes	...	John Hayes
Travis Smith	...	Mark Hayes
G. Alan Wilkins	...	Shampoo

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for violence, thematic elements and brief strong language.

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:PG-13 | UK:12A | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Portugal:M/12 | Argentina:13

Company:

A Lucky Old Sun Production

Trivia:

The majority of the principal photography took place in 2004.

Movie Connections:

References Conan the Destroyer (1984)

Great story, but could have been done better

A great story that should have been a great movie. It's unfortunately pretty poorly directed, and the writing could have been tighter. I can still appreciate it for what it is, and hopefully writer/director Nichols, whose debut this is, will come up with something as good in the future and do better by it. Michael Shannon, Douglas Ligon and Barlow Jacobs play three men named Son, Boy and Kid. Their father left them when they were kids, which led to their mother abandoning them emotionally. Son, the oldest, basically raised them, and their lives are pretty lousy, though seemingly normal for the setting, rural Arkansas. When they hear their father has died, the three men attend his funeral and speak badly of the man who couldn't have cared less about them. This deeply offends the old man's second family, consisting of four brothers, and a war begins between them. What the film really has going for it is the great characterizations, very well performed by mostly amateurs. I pegged Michael Shannon last year, with his performances in Bug and Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, as being one of this generation's finest actors, and he does well by that promise here. Nichols almost undoes it all with awkward pacing and way too much wallowing in the town's redneckiness. The film is mostly pitched as a serious indie with copious comic moments, all involving how trashy everyone is. The movie probably does not play well in the South. I think maybe the script's biggest problem is that it really contains only one idea, and Nichols doesn't want to spend it all in one place.