The Take (2007/Sony DVD)

 

Picture: C+     Sound: C+     Extras: C     Film: C+

 

 

Brad Furman tries his hands at an urban thriller, much overproduced and badly done these days, with The Take (2007) featuring John Leguizamo as Felix, a husband who is trying to make ends meet and get his life back together when he becomes suspected of a murder he did not commit.  His wife (Rosie Perez) and their children have been through much together and when he is nearly killed when shot in a robbery, things get worse.  Then the murder happens.

 

Turns out it is the fault of a hijacker (Tyrese Gibson) who thought the man was dead and just cannot stop shooting his gun off at people to cover his tracks.  At first shocked he survived the shooting, he decides to go after the family man, but the streetwise Felix is ready to fight back no matter what happens and does not trust the police.

 

Jonas and Joshua Pate come up with a decent, if sometimes predictable script, but it is the cast and directing that save this, making it more watchable than it should be, so if this is your kind of film, you might want to give it a look.

 

The anamorphically enhanced 1.85 X 1 image is nicely shot, but on this DVD is a little softer than it should/could be, yet Director of Photography Lukas Ettlin does make this involving without shaking the camera too much, which is cheating now more than ever.  The Dolby Digital 5.1 rarely engages all channels, has quiet dialogue more often than expected and this is passable, but not what it should be considering the subject matter.  Extras include deleted scenes, a behind the scenes featurette and commentary by Furman and Ettlin that is not bad.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo