Movie No. 20: "Shotgun Stories"

With attention spans supposedly getting shorter, it seems like most of our entertainment media, from movies to TV to music are looking for that hook, something to grasp our attention early, an attempt to demand we take notice.

There is something almost refreshing, then, about a film that goes against this grain. Nothing in the beginning of "Shotgun Stories," writer/director Jeff Nichols' debut film about a bitter feud between two sets of brothers in rural Arkansas, will grip you, make you sit up and take notice. But if you give your interest willingly, stick with the film as it slowly peels back its layers, develops its characters, the payoff is well worth it.

The film follows Son Hayes (Michael Shannon, "Bug") and his brothers Boy (Douglas Ligon) and Kid (Barlow Jacobs). The product of a drunken father who abandoned the family before getting sober and starting anew and a hate-filled mother, the trio are scratching out a meager existence, stuck trying to become the type of men that their father couldn't be for them. When their dad dies, however, Son's actions at the funeral touch off a feud with the sons from the father's other family, sending them all down a path toward violence and revenge.

That the film turns the three brothers, who begin the movie almost comically red-neckish, into such interesting, well-rounded characters is something of a minor miracle. It takes its time, slowly revealing the shadows and complexities. Credit also has to be given to the actors, especially Shannon and Ligon. You care about their characters, root for them to break free of the downward spiral the film's events have placed them in.

Once the violence starts, however, the film seems to stop taking its time. Several of the scenes, especially those involving Ligon's Boy, work, the overall impact simply isn't the same. While the film shows a great deal of passion in its anti-violence stand, the care shown toward its characters in the beginning seems to be lacking. The doesn't keep it from being an admirable work, or even a very good one. It simply keeps it just this side of greatness. B+