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Michael Shannon, Douglas Ligon, Barlow Jacobs, Michael Abbott Jr., Travis Smith ... see more see more... , Lynsee Provence , David Rhodes , Glenda Pannell , G. Alan Wilkins , Natalie Canerday , Coley Canpany , Cole Hendrixson

Two families linked by the same father explode into a violent rivalry in this independent Southern gothic drama, the first feature from director Jeff Nichols. Cleaman Hayes lived and died in Little Ro... read more read more...ck, AR, where he had seven sons by two different women. After wedding Nicole (Natalie Canerday), Cleaman sired three sons, and his lack of concern for their future was reflected in the fact he barely gave them names -- they were dubbed Son (Michael Shannon), Kid (Barlow Jacobs) and Boy (Douglas Ligon). One day, Cleaman abandoned his wife and sons, and left them to survive in deep poverty that has trapped them to this day. Eventually Cleaman cleaned up his act, launched a successful business, married again, and raised four more sons -- Cleaman Jr. (Michael Abbott, Jr.), Mark (Travis Smith), Stephen (Lynsee Provence) and John (David Rhodes), all of whom were given the love and attention Cleaman denied his first three children. When Cleaman dies, all seven sons attend the funeral, and Son, overcome by bitterness, spits on his father's coffin and tells everyone how much he hated the man. Short tempered Mark answers Son with his fists, and a free-for-all breaks out between the two Hayes families. The anger and rivalry doesn't end at the end of the day, and soon a war has broken out between the clans, with no small amount of blood shed on either side. Shotgun Stories received its North American premiere at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Flixster Users

79% liked it

2,953 ratings

Critics

91% liked it

43 critics

R, 1 hr. 30 min.

Directed by: Jeff Nichols

Release Date: October 12, 2007

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DVD Release Date: July 1, 2008

Stats: 384 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (384)

  • fb1672039553
    May 10, 2012
    fb1672039553
    A masterpiece of the rural southern U.S. and the nearly uncontrollable, circular nature of violence and prejudice.
  • paulkoh110
    December 27, 2011
    paulkoh110
    You can tell that Jeff Nichols loves Days of Heaven! This film bleeds complexity in its simple characters and shows off its cinematography. The downside is that Nichols cuts out any trace of action that may entertain a mainstream audience. For film makers and lovers of a deep cha... read moreracter studies, this film is classic.
  • paulsandberg
    July 19, 2009
    paulsandberg
    an interesting story that slowly developes amidst the cotton fields of rural Arkansas, Shotgun Stories is a tale of deepseated hatred and its eventual effects on the lives of two intertwined families.

    The drama and tension escalate with each encounter following the death of th... read moree man who fathered both families (having walked out on the first, and then, finding religion, turned his life around - which does the first set of boys no good whatsoever). Raised to hate the "other" family by a cold hearted mother, the boys seem as listless as the dying town around them - unable to get past their torturous upbringing.

    A powerful performance by Shannon as Son, the eldest of the clan; an intelligent man with some serious flaws.

    The film is compelling in spite of the numerous fades to black; and the pacing tells the story at it's own southern drawl of a pace - and yet it succeeds for those same reasons.

    The middle son finally has had enough and ends the feud, reasoning that they all have family that they don't want to lose (and lives, for that matter, although in Boy's case you'd have to use that term very loosely).

    The malaise is almost palpable, and equally as important a statment as the feud that compels the action.

    The scene that kind of says it all concerning this film, comes when Son drives up to his mother's house and matter of factly tells her of the death of her youngest. She has no reaction whatsoever, as if she never cared about her children at all. Sensing this, Son lays the blame at her feet, telling her that it was she who raised her boys to hate the other family, and it has brought nothing but sorrow and destruction.
  • kiriyamakazou
    January 30, 2009
    kiriyamakazou
    Shotgun Stories is a sadly ignored film. Though it treads similar paths as many revenge films, Shotgun Stories is the quiet one nobody notices. Like all good revenge films it shows the tragic escalation of violence and the terrifying cyclical nature of it. Unlike other revenge fi... read morelms it is a subtle masterpiece. To see a film that makes you feel the emotions and relate to characters without any noticeable manipulation or build up is a testament to such great film making. No dramatic music or quick cuts. The actors say realistic things in realistic ways and we can perfectly empathise with both sets of brothers. Reminiscent of All the Real Girls in the way it treats as though the audience as grown ups.
  • tsigur
    September 4, 2008
    tsigur
    What a pussy of a revenge film! Look, I support idependent film as much as the next guy. Guy makes a movie for $500 on his cell phone, hoorah, go get 'em, I appreciate what you are doing. But from the looks of the cast (I don't get this Micheal Shannon fetish people have) and the... read more cinematography, it looks like they had some money, so why the fuck couldn't they get some decent sound and at least one more guy who knew something about acting to fill in for the rest of the director's family members. The story started out as pretty interesting, but then falls flat. And everybody knows that the best basketball player to come out of Arkansas is Joe Johnson, you dipshits, not Corliss fucking Williamson.
  • gator681
    April 30, 2009
    gator681
    [font=Century Gothic]In "Shotgun Stories," Son's(Michael Shannon) wife Annie(Glenda Parnell) has left him again due to his gambling. So, Son invites his brother Kid(Barlow Jacobs) in from a tent in the yard that he had been living in, so at least he can sleep on the couch, now th... read moreat he does not have to face her disapproval. Son also makes a point of asking his other brother Boy(Douglas Ligon), a youth basketball coach, if he would also like to sleep at his house instead of his van. None of this makes Annie happy when she returns. What makes Son happy is the news that his father has died. Of course, he has a funny way of showing this at his funeral by spitting at the coffin, infuriating his father's second family to no end.[/font]

    [font=Century Gothic]"Shotgun Stories" is a frustrating movie in that it has some good thoughts about family and the sins of the father coming back to haunt the next generation but the filmmaker does not have the skills to fully articulate his vision. The running question about mysterious scars was old when it was skewered in "The Big Fix" in 1978. And I am starting to have serious doubts about Michael Shannon's acting range. [/font]

    [font=Century Gothic]In trying to depict small town life in Arkansas, the movie relies on redneck stereotypes instead of creating three dimensional characterizations. All of the circumstances result from stupidity instead of economics.(Remember that Arkansas also gave us J. William Fulbright.) Son(notice the brothers' name) is the best off of his brothers, working full time at a fish hatchery, with a wife and a son, but he is still not smart enough to know when it comes to gambling, the house always wins in the end.[/font]
  • fb704730572
    March 12, 2012
    fb704730572
    It occasionally suffers from its overly leisurely pace, but all in all there's a ton to admire in Shotgun Stories. The cast, spearheaded by the immensely talented Michael Shannon, is excellent, able to create a sense of sustained tension. Director Jeff Nichols (of Take Shelter fa... read moreme) creates a very realistic atmospheric tone, giving the film a strong, albeit muted, dramatic quality. I also really appreciated the nuanced approach the film took on portraying the dynamics between the two families. Very strong debut for Nichols.

    4/5 Stars
  • fb20312798
    October 12, 2008
    fb20312798
    It's tremendously slow approach creates some remarkable scenes that feel totally real. So many of the conversations are just so ordinary you'd think you were watching a documentary. It's a mistake to say that the movie is about forgiveness or vengeance in the normal sense of the ... read morewords. One family had a cruel father who abandoned them, the other had a kind religious father. Both of these fathers are the same man. One hates him, the other adores him. His death upsets each family's lives to a point were all their bitterness and anger come out in tremendously destructive ways. I wouldn't call it a perfect film, but I can't wait to see what Jeff Nichols does next as a director.
  • cacutshaw
    January 24, 2009
    cacutshaw
    Outstanding revenge drama with excellent understated performances, especially Shannon. Like a modern Hatfield and McCoy showing the consequences and futility of revenge. Highly recommended.
  • mattsigur1
    July 28, 2008
    mattsigur1
    Has some powerful scenes and just good straight-ahead storytelling.
    But the cold emotions didn't feel cold, they just felt pawned off due to the lacking cast. Don't get me wrong I love me some Barlow Jacobs, but I couldn't figure out if Michael Shannon was a badass or doing a Mi... read morechael Biehn impression.

View All Shotgun Stories Reviews

Critic Reviews

Eddie Cockrell
October 18, 2008
Eddie Cockrell, Variety

A precisely modulated yet cumulatively forceful story of a rural family feud turned deadly. Full Review

Maureen M. Hart
July 9, 2008
Maureen M. Hart, Chicago Tribune

Director Jeff Nichols lets the action unfold slowly following an impromptu insult, but the escalation of hatred and pain feels natural. Full Review

Joshua Katzman
June 6, 2008
Joshua Katzman, Chicago Reader

... here there's also an undercurrent of biblical revenge that lends the narrative a sense of violent menace and an almost continuous tension. Full Review

Roger Ebert
June 6, 2008
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Few films are so observant about how we relate with one another. Few are as sympathetic. Full Review

Michael Ordoņa
April 25, 2008
Michael Ordoņa, Los Angeles Times

Shotgun Stories is a cautionary tale about revenge, but more than that, it is a beautiful, authentic-feeling portrait of a family and a place. Full Review

Walter V. Addiego
April 4, 2008
Walter V. Addiego, San Francisco Chronicle

An austere rural landscape, festering hatred, class tensions, terse dialogue -- these are common currency in indie movies these days. Shotgun Stories uses them all, but manages to stand out from the c... Full Review

Jim Ridley
April 2, 2008
Jim Ridley, Village Voice

[Star Michael Shannon is] one of the most formidable unsung actors working today in American movies. Full Review

Lou Lumenick
March 28, 2008
Lou Lumenick, New York Post

Yes, it's a mite pretentious and on the slow side. But debuting director Jeff Nichols has an eye for small-town America and a sensibility that he shares with fellow North Carolina School of the Arts a... Full Review

Frank Scheck
March 28, 2008
Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter

Never manages to be fully convincing.

Matt Zoller Seitz
March 26, 2008
Matt Zoller Seitz, New York Times

Shotgun Stories defines the classic western phrase 'doing what a man's got to do' as both a moral imperative and a biological compulsion.

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