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Shotgun Stories (2008) Certificate 12

Shotgun Stories
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Rated 2.5 stars
Average rating
(54%)
 
Starring: Michael Shannon | Douglas Ligon | Barlow Jacobs | Natalie Canerday | Glenda Pannell | Lynnsee Provence | Michael Abbott Jr. | Coley Canpany | Cole Hendrixson | Vivian Morrison Norman
Director: Jeff Nichols
Studio: CONTENDER ENTERTAINMENT GROUP
Run time: 92 mins
Genres: Drama | Thriller
Languages: English
Released: September 15, 2008

Son Hayes never speaks of the scars on his back. The shotgun pellets left under his skin make for a sporadic pattern of blue-black dots. The men he works with take bets on how he got them. His brothers, Boy and Kid Hayes, don't discuss it. His past, just like these scars, is never far behind him. This stands true for the memory of his father, a man that never bothered to give his children proper names. He left the three brothers, Son, Boy and Kid, when they were young. Their last impressions were of a violent drunk who never hesitated to put his own needs ahead of his family. The brothers were left to be raised by their mother, a hateful woman, who to this day blames her children for the life she's been left with and the man she could not keep. Their father, having left the memory of his children as completely as he left their home, managed to move on and put his life back together. He sobered up, became a devout Christian, married a wonderful woman, and fathered four new sons. All of who received proper names. His life became a model that most would aspire to, a man successful in business, community and family. His only true failing are the sons he turned his back on.

Screenshots

Rating of 3 stars out of 5
Time Out

Set amid the widescreen cottonfields of south-east Arkansas, Shotgun Stories centres on the life-long conflict...

Highest rated reviews

19 out of 21 people found the following review helpful:

Rated 5.0 stars
Storytelling at it's finest

StephenBellYoung from from Coalville, 4th October, 2008

These days you can't help notice that films are more about the visual effects and less about the narrative. Shotgun Stories completely shatters that pretext. Shotgun Stories is a fantastic story about a family fued that simmers to explosive and thrilling consequences. Set in the timeless rural backroads of Arkansas the film is far more than your average revenge story. It's an emotional, tense, buck shot of a thriller that grips your heart like a vice and never lets go. The cast, of largely unknown's, deliver an incredible performances that sucks you into the film and refuses to let go. One of the best films of 2007, this independant feature is a cracking debut from writer/ director Jeff Nichols; a talent you should undoubtebly keep your eyes open for.

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8 out of 9 people found the following review helpful:

Rated 2.0 stars
Slooooow

A Customer from Exeter, 10th October, 2008

This film was so slow and the acting so wooden I just wanted to shout 'Get on with it' throughout. There are just long scenes of staring people - interspersed with a bit of drama and violence. It was awful.

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4 out of 4 people found the following review helpful:

Rated 3.0 stars
Tragic Life

A Customer from Barnet, 31st October, 2008

Real Life stories as life is Not only in the USA but world wide

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4 out of 5 people found the following review helpful:

Rated 4.0 stars
GOOD

scorpion from , 25th September, 2008

A GOOD CHILLING FILM GOOD STORY SET IN THE COTTON GROWING REGIONS OF ARKANSAS A MUST

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Most recent reviews

Rated 3.0 stars
Slow burner

Kirsty1 from , 16th February, 2010

Good for a Sunday afternoon

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Rated 3.0 stars
Meticulously crafted drama

thistimeitwillbedifferent from , 26th January, 2010

Moving at a pace not dissimilar to toe nail growth, Shotgun Stories takes time and care to craft an extremely tense and volatile take on the 'two houses at war' trope. Inserting minuets of violence into its family centred core and perfectly anchored by Michael Shannon as the eldest of three dropout brothers in anonymous small-town Arkansas, this is well-produced and patient filmmaking that occasionally labours its points and struggles to draw them together in a satisfying conclusion.

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Rated 3.0 stars
passable

A Customer from England, 25th January, 2010

I can't really remember much about it but having said that I did watch all of it so couldn't of been too bad. It was OK but not one I'd rush to recommend to friends

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Rated 3.0 stars
Slow but steady

A Customer from Sheffield, 11th January, 2010

For fans of 'The Straight Story', the brilliant David Lynch movie of 1999, there will be a familiarity to this film - the slow pace, expansive locations and ability to leave out words where they're not needed. If you watched 'The Straight Story' and thought, 'it's just a bloke on a lawnmower', then don't bother with this film. Personally, I enjoyed the story and am quite happy to fill the silences with my own intuition and understanding of the characters portrayed (extremely well by the majortiy of the relatively unknown cast), but felt it was missing a proper ending; the feel good factor you were left with from 'The Straight Story' was sadly lacking, otherwise I would have rated this film higher.

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