FeistyUpper If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

PiraBit if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

Roxie The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

darosslfc Shotgun Stories is an indie film written and directed by Jeff Nichols. The writer/director of commercially successful Mud makes his debut with this film. Son Hayes (Michael Shannon), Boy Hayes (Douglas Ligon), and Kid Hayes (Barlow Jacobs) are residents of a small town in Arkansas. They were born to a mother that had hate rooted in her heart and were left by their father who started a new life and a new family in the same town. The film escalates when Son Hayes shows up with his brothers at the funeral of his father and has words about the true nature the man who died. Mark Hayes (Travis Smith), one of the oldest of the Hayes father's new family takes immediate offense and plans retaliation on Son, Boy, and Kid. The film tells the story of the subsequent events that takes place between the two families and the resulting despondency. This small film has a lot more depth than what appears to be the surface. It tells the story of families living in a part of America where few get to see. The struggles and emotions these families experience are expertly conveyed by the film. The cinematography and the score are an excellent supplement to the story. Save this film for a time when you're feeling up to watching a story that will leave you thinking about it for a long time after you view it.

propanejoe2003 This guy , Woodward must have watched this movie in some drunken stupor. There is no Sewage pouring into any river. Its the catfish farm circulating pump. His blatant anti gun attitude seems to be more of a jealous streak that his country hasn't that freedom . There are no gun shots in the movie, no knives,and no lily pads rotting. What a rube. He has no conception of Americana nor human nature. The movie asks you to really put yourself into the shoes of people in a non-dramatic life which most people live with something in the past of the main character that we can only speculate as does several minor characters during the film. What a sleeper this film is and I am glad to see some of the actors continuing to work in cinema.

dave-sturm Southern American culture is rich in storytelling tradition and part of that is the story of the blood feud. But Shotgun Stories is not about those ancient yokels, the Hatfields and the McCoys, but contemporary families in rural Arkansas.One father, two wives. Two sets of sons. With first wife, father was an alcoholic ne'er to do well who abused his wife. The boys by this wife are poor. He cleaned up his act when he ran off with this second wife and became a farmer. The sons by this wife are middle class. The sets of sons hate each other. The father dies. At his funeral, his first set of sons shows up, brazenly unkempt to spite the well-dressed second set of sons. The oldest makes a speech condemning the father for abandoning them, then spits on the casket. A fist fight breaks out. Vengeance is sworn.And so the movie begins. And blood is shed.The information above about family history does not emerge all at once. Bits are doled out as we get to know the Hayes family, the sons, their wives and girlfriends, friends (some, like Shampoo, disreputable) and their children. An often unmoving camera fixes on the details on these young men's lives, especially the older ones, Son, Kid and Boy (Yes, that's their names).Just about everybody in the movie has known each other since childhood.This is not a fast-paced movie, but the tension builds to almost unbearable levels as retribution leads to worse retribution. Interestingly, the most serious violence occurs off camera. Eventually, a peacemaker emerges in a most unlikely (but maybe not) persona.Shotgun Stories is the kind of movie film festival goers adore. Low budget. Unknown actors. Local color. Rich dialogue. Evocative cinematography.If that's not your bag, stay away. But if it intrigues you, check this out.

cgodburn Shotgun Stories is a film that should be better than it is. The material provides any number of story lines to emerge that would be more convincing than what is actually shot. The movie does have one thing going for it: Michael Shannon. Too long has this great actor sat in the background of American film. Seen most recently in the William Friedkin adaptation of Tracy Letts' "Bug," Mr. Shannon has the ability to hide his intentions better than any other actor around. The only reason to keep watching this movie at all is because you're not exactly sure what he's up to. While watching this film, one can't help but notice that it looks an awful lot like a David Gordon Greene movie. That's a nice touch, except when the end credits finally...finally go up it shows that this much better filmmaker is a co-producer. Had Mr. Greene taken the helm of this "family tragedy" it's possible the end result would be a far better affair. One fine scene exits in the movie, and it centers around a monologue delivered believably by Mr. Shannon. The scene is early on in the film and occurs at a funeral, and the tension between the families and the setting alone prepare you for more well written, well acted scenes that involve the same amount of truth as this one. Unfortunately, those scenes never come. Jeff Nichols structures the film into an old fashioned Greek tragedy that pits brother against brother. The grudge between them comes from a deep seeded hatred for one another stemming from none other than their father. Family bonds and morality are tested, and the film does a decent job of showing rural American life. Nichols himself hails from Arkansas and one would think that his interpretation of this lifestyle is accurate. I won't argue that. The homes in which these people live seem believable enough, and the environment seems like a real place, but when anyone other than Shannon opens their mouth the film borders on parody, making us laugh at these men's schemes rather than making us understand them. It is a story in which these men are trapped by their environment and unreconciled hatred. The funeral scene in the beginning was supposed to solve this, but only fueled the fire. When the guns start blazing and the bodies start dropping, the movie falls into ordinary melodramatic garbage that we've been reading since the beginning of time. Michael Shannon deserves better, and perhaps in the upcoming "Revolutionary Road" he'll finally be recognized. "Shotgun Stories" should have done this, but instead leaves the actor desperately trying to carry everyone else on his back, which he does for a while. Someone better get him some icy hot and put him in a good film right away.