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Shotgun Stories

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Shotgun Stories

PG-13

Released Dec 14, 2007

1h 32m

Drama

Mystery & Thriller

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

88%

Tomatometer

51 Reviews

80%

Popcornmeter

2,500+ Ratings

Backed by siblings Kid (Barlow Jacobs) and Boy (Douglas Ligon), Son Hayes (Michael Shannon) tells the attendees at his father's funeral that he and his brothers hated the dead man, then spits on his grave. This triggers a battle with the siblings' half brothers, which soon leaves Kid dead and Son seriously hurt. As the half brothers stockpile weapons for what they assume will be a deadly encounter, Boy visits them and suggests an end to the fighting.

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Critics Consensus

Thanks to a talented cast and its uncommon depth, Nichols' debut manages to rise above its overly familiar plot.

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Derek Adams

Time Out

Rated: 3/5

Nov 18, 2011

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Ben Kenigsberg

Time Out

Rated: 2/5

Nov 17, 2011

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Leo Goldsmith

IndieWire

There is much to "Shotgun Stories" that elevates it above the fray of Green derivatives and unflattering categorizations, bolstered by a roster of naturalistic, fully assimilated performances, led by "Bug"'s now ubiquitous Michael Shannon.

Aug 8, 2009

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Kathy Fennessy

Seattle Film Blog

Comparisons to Bob Rafelson's Five Easy Pieces and David Cronenberg's A History of Violence might seem overblown, but they're not that far off the mark, and those weren't debuts (though Rafelson's only previous movie was the Monkees oddity Head).

Rated: 3/4

Jun 19, 2024

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Keith Garlington

Keith & the Movies

...wonderfully written, brilliantly conceived, and cleverly crafted.

Rated: 4.5/5

Aug 25, 2022

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Eve Tushnet

Patheos

There’s not much here beyond the mythologically-rich setup. Once the plot is in motion, it goes through its paces and that’s all.

May 23, 2022

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jeffrey w

Everything in this movie seem to be done with how the remarkable "charm" of small town life can be for some. A father's choice to leave one set of boys, start another family, and end up have more boys comes to natural boiling point that his ex-wife bred it to be in the first set of sons when he passes and a feud ensues. The characters are well written and even more so crafted by the actors playing them. The story written and direction is the same and is not complicated with numerous unnecessary plot twists or burdened by the "list of things that could possibly happen" all wrapped up in one single movie but would never all happen to one group of people. The action is builds and flows so well to match the story and music score follows it well and matches it intensity. In the end you feel like you have lived with them and all you want to do is tell the first set to stop listening to Shampoo, but listen to me and when you have time to sit and watch a thinking movie choose this one. I have no idea how I missed this movie this long!

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

07/05/24

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georgan g

Brotherly jealousy is taken to the extreme. The bad seeds their parents planted grow to be 7 angry men. Rather a bland ending, but "happy."

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Nathan A

Michael Shannon is always good. But you can definitely see him get better in later films. And I know you have to set the atmosphere. But nothing happening for 35 minutes is a bit much. There's a lot of uninteresting conversations between bored men without many options. There's a chubby friend that seems to exist only as comedy relief. He does goofy things like trying to put a house air conditioner into his van. Not funny. Not pathetic enough to be sad. Then there's a goofy guy named shampoo. Another silly aimless young man. With no prospects. The movie seems to shamble slowly from one generic Country Boy scene to another, setting up the final showdown. It's hard to say all these things because of all the good reviews. It's not bad. But it's also not worth watching.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

09/25/21

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Audience Member

Slow as Molasses!!! Monotone the whole... damn... movie...

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

09/04/18

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roger g

You have to wonder why and how step-brothers can hate one another to the point of death. This story will tell you how.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Audience Member

It does have a very familiar plot, but I am a fan of Jeff Nichols' work, and this is overall a good film for this guy to start off with.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/11/23

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Jeff Nichols

Director

Michael Shannon

Son Hayes

Douglas Ligon

Boy Hayes

Barlow Jacobs

Kid Hayes

Natalie Canerday

Nicole

Glenda Pannell

Annie Hayes

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Synopsis

Backed by siblings Kid (Barlow Jacobs) and Boy (Douglas Ligon), Son Hayes (Michael Shannon) tells the attendees at his father's funeral that he and his brothers hated the dead man, then spits on his grave. This triggers a battle with the siblings' half brothers, which soon leaves Kid dead and Son seriously hurt. As the half brothers stockpile weapons for what they assume will be a deadly encounter, Boy visits them and suggests an end to the fighting.

Director: Jeff Nichols
Producer: David Gordon Green, Lisa Muskat, Jeff Nichols
Screenwriter: Jeff Nichols
Distributor: International Film Circuit [us]
Production Co: Muskat Filmed Properties, Upload Films
Rating: PG-13 (Brief Strong Language|Violence|Thematic Elements)
Genre: Drama, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 14, 2007, Limited
Rerelease Date (Theaters): Mar 26, 2008
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 30, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $45.7K
Runtime: 1h 32m

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