Wednesday, January 16, 2013

A brilliant movie, until it came out of the shelter













I'm in quite a dilemma here, first of all how to rate a movie which is absolutely brilliant for the first 110 (give or take a few) minutes and the last 10 minutes basically destroy everything that came before it. Another problem I have is how to say what's wrong with this movie without spoiling it for everyone who hasn't seen it. I'll try my best. It's a story about Curtis, a father and a husband, who one night starts to see visions of an apocalyptic storm. He thinks he's going crazy and seeks professional help, but just as a precaution he also starts to build an expensive storm shelter in his backyard. As the family's money is already tight things get complicated, all the while the marriage and friendships start to crack because of his visions. The story is interesting to say the least and it's very well crafted so you won't lose interest for a second. The acting is pretty much perfect, especially Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain both do a brilliant job as the troubled family. Also the direction is solid and there's plenty of room for the characters to develop. So far this sounds great, but the ending is where this movie falls apart big time. There's actually a shot to which this movie should have ended, it's the one where a certain individual opens the shelter door in a very dramatic scene. That should not spoil it for anyone and everyone who has seen this should know what I mean. The movie should have ended there and it would have been absolutely brilliant. Now as it continues onwards it undermines everything it built before that. And I seriously can't understand why do some people want certainty and answers to every question, some should be left open for the viewer to ponder on. After the incredibly stupid ending to otherwise very intriguing drama, I was ready to bash this movie to the ground, but I really can't. It was still well worth the watch even though the ending left a bad taste.
65%

No comments:

Post a Comment