In the present day, Saul(Jeremy Renner) is being prepared to be executed by lethal injection. In the past, he is a petty crook and gambler who works at a storage facility while taking care of his invalid father. He is also badly in need of $2,000. Ana(Minnier Driver), a maid, could also use a little extra cash. She
has just been told that her son Jesse(Bobby Coleman) is being transferred to special education. To avoid that fate, she wants to send him to private school but receives little support from her husband Marty(David Denman, of "Drop Dead Diva"), himself a teacher.
"Take" is a ponderous movie that lumbers towards its inescapable conclusion where two people have their lives changed in a fateful meeting. After which, there is a curious endnote praising restorative justice which long story short says that confrontation is good for the soul between convict and victim, forgetting for a second how many people are in jail for victimless crimes. And in this case, it only works one way as Saul is definitely beyond the point of no return. In fact, Jeremy Renner's sad sack performance seems to work towards the conclusion that Saul has no business being on death row(which personally I don't think anybody should be) which is a debate the movie ducks away from.
August 11, 2011
Top Critic
