SHOTGUN STORIES (2008) ****

Son (Michael Shannon) gets word his estranged father has passed away.  His father long abandoned him and his two brothers Boy (Douglas Ligon) and Kid (Barlow Jacobs), so he pays his respects the only way he knows how:  Crashing the funeral and spitting on his father’s casket.  This greatly upsets his dad’s “new” family of hotheaded trigger-happy sons, lighting the fuse of a full-scale feud.  The retaliations escalate on both sides, ultimately ending in murder.

Shotgun Stories is Jeff (Take Shelter) Nichols’ directorial debut and it’s a quietly powerful throwback to the early ‘90s independent cinema that favored oddball, unique characters populating small, intimate storylines.  Most directors would’ve hitched their wagon to the revenge-driven plotline.  Nichols is more concerned how a lifetime of strife, bad blood, and hostility has broken a family down over time.  I especially liked the way that he peppers the film with occasional bits with weirdo locals like the one-eyed “Shampoo” (G. Alan Wilkins).  Because of that, this is the only movie I can think of that brought to mind both Death Wish and Napoleon Dynamite in the same breath.  It hits some very familiar beats while simultaneously feeling exhilaratingly fresh and unique.

Shannnon’s brooding performance anchors the movie.  The economical use of dialogue between the brothers is important, because often what’s not being said between them is just as crucial as what’s spoken aloud.  Shannon makes each word count and gives one of his greatest, most introspective performances.  You have to feel for the brothers, not only because of the bad hand life dealt them, but also because their father had the audacity to name them Son, Kid, and Boy.  If that alone wasn’t enough to spark an all-out family feud, nothing would.