“Shotgun Stories” quickly establishes a humid, atmospheric Delta tone, then proceeds to slowly drown in stoic—not to mention stupid—Southern cliches.
Filmed four years ago by native Arkansan Jeff Nichols, it’s clearly a labor of love and no doubt true to some regional ways and attitudes. But jeez, it’s self-parodic, and all the more so for taking place in some uncharted corner of Dixie where nobody has the slightest sense of humor.
Son, Boy and Kid Hayes are adult brothers whose father had so little regard for them that, well, he gave them those generic names.
They are predictably screwed up as a result; it doesn’t help that the old man ran out, stopped drinking, married a Christian woman and ended up being a good father to a whole other quartet of boys with real names.
Upon his death, a blood feud breaks out between the two sets of half brothers, thanks to inertia more than any good reason I could detect. Despite the presence of intensity generator Michael Shannon (“World Trade Center”) as Son, the film’s acting generally walks a blurry line between reticently understated and amateurish.
David Gordon Green, whose own semi-rural Southern sagas “George Washington” and “All the Real Girls” are marvels of perceptive character observation, took a producer credit to help Nichols score some finishing money. Too bad he wasn’t there to guide the newer filmmaker from the start.
The Los Angeles Daily News does not award star ratings.
“Shotgun Stories”
PG-13 for violence, thematic elements and brief strong language. 1 hour, 32 minutes. Written and directed by Jeff Nichols; starring Michael Shannon, Douglas Ligon, Natalie Canerday, Opens today at Starz Filmcenter.
