The Take Reviews
Screen International
Things never quite come together and the central plot focus of the family drama is never plausible enough to make for compelling cinema.
Reel Film Reviews
...wildly uneven...
Full Review
| Original Score: 2/4
Cinematical
If you usually dig John Leguizamo's work, then you'll definitely want to see this one.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3.5/5
TheDivaReview.com
Abundantly gritty and atmospheric, The Take is marked with many of the errors of a first feature, and succeeds almost entirely through exceptional performances by stars John Leguizamo and Rosie Perez.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/5
NewsBlaze
Funny man John Leguizamo gets in touch with his furious and fiery side in The Take, and that transitional extreme mood swing is surprisingly impressive.
Top CriticMr. Furman, who also directs music videos, has given the movie, shot by Lukas Ettlin, a bleached-out, unglossy look. Occasionally the visuals seem overly stylized, but Mr. Furman knows enough to showcase his stars' unvarnished performances.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3.5/5
Production values are tops, and Lukas Ettlin's athletic camerawork -- coursing through the streets of Boyle Heights and other Los Angeles locations -- adds a kinetic element to a film that is half thriller, half psychodrama.
John Leguizamo knocks it out of the park as an armored car driver in The Take, which is quite a bit better than you'd expect from a low-budget thriller that's getting a token theatrical release a month ahead of its DVD debut.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/4
Monsters and Critics
Indie director Brad Furman has unleashed a powerful low budget thriller that makes good use of the talents of John Leguizamo as well as those of supporting performers Tyrese Gibson and Rosie Perez.
Full Review
| Original Score: 7/10
Short on sensational elements but involving, it won't set multiplexes on fire but should make a decent showing thanks to cast and plot.
This winning combination of neighborhood indie and old-school Hollywood B movie is the kind of film that doesn't flinch from the sight of a bullet being removed from human flesh.
Full Review
| Original Score: 4/6
L.A. Weekly
Furman stages the final foot chase with brio, but one wishes that he'd found a way to stay at home with Felix and Marina, who don't need guns to thrill.
Perez and Leguizamo make an entirely believable couple, and director Brad Furman creates an intense undercurrent of intimacy between the audience and his haunted hero.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/5
