[yasr_overall_rating]
A young con artist and former CIA agent embark on an anti-terrorist mission in France.
Idris Elba is so fervently beloved by his fans, it makes one wonder where the adoration stems from. No disrespect to the charming actor who can certainly hold the screen, but which film was it, exactly, that propelled Elba to that Don Cheadle status? One glance at his resume reveals a slew of duds (“The Reaping,” “The Unborn,” “Obsessed,” “The Losers,” “Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance,” “The Gunman”), some mid-grade stuff (“Takers,” “Thor,” “Prometheus,” “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom,” “Finding Dory”), and only a few moderate gems in-between (“Zootopia,” “The Jungle Book,” “Star Trek Beyond”), most of the the good ones’ high quality having little to do with Elba’s actual performance. The only standout that comes to mind is Elba chewing scenery in the gratuitous-but-effective “Beasts of No Nation,” a powerhouse role that verged on – but never slipped into – parody. My personal favorite Elba performance is his memorable appearance in several episodes of TV’s “The Office,” as the uptight and sexy boss Charles Miner.
The main reason for his recognition has to be the TV show “Luther,” which I admit I haven’t yet seen, having heard nothing but raves about it – and hence distanced myself from it. (A tendency of mine is to avoid whatever is deemed wildly trendy by the masses: I was late on “Harry Potter,” “Star Trek,” “Sopranos,” and “The Wire”). Similarly to how Benedict Cumberbatch’s sling-shot career move was “Sherlock Holmes,” “Luther” must have instantly cemented Elba’s status as a serious stalwart. (The British crime show has been on my Netflix cue for months now; as my British friend next to me reassures me, “he’s the shit in it.”) I’ll make it a point to watch “Luther” ASAP. For now, I have writer/director James Watkins’ “The Take” as the most recent example of a mediocre film that doesn’t do its star justice. Why Elba would pick this project, which gives off a distinct, stale, straight-to-video whiff, is beyond anyone’s guess.
Formerly titled “Bastille Day” (France’s version of Independence Day – and a catchier name, if you ask me), “The Take” (not to be confused with the 2007 John Leguizamo vehicle) doesn’t take its time plunging us into the action: Michael Mason (“Game of Thrones”’ Richard Madden), a pickpocket, storms through some sort of a Paris gathering that features a nude girl descending a red-carpet staircase. Cut to: CIA agent Sean Briar (Elba) is being grilled by his superiors, Tom Luddy (Anatol Yusef) and Karen Dacre (Kelly Reilly), for his questionable actions in the field. “Reckless, insubordinate and irresponsible towards human assets,” Briar is immediately established as a badass who disregards authority and yields results through, ahem, unconventional methods.
In direct contrast to his methods, a conventional plot unravels, wherein rookie terrorist Zoe Naville’s (Charlotte Le Bon) explosive suitcase accidentally ends up in Michael’s hands and goes off, barely grazing him. He’s caught on camera; Briar and his team run down the young man’s profile, which includes gambling, bad childhood, lice – same spiel you’ve seen a million times. Michael is “always running away from something, mostly from himself.” After an intense chase that takes them from the Paris rooftops to the street markets (where you can apparently easily shoplift with no consequences), Briar busts Michael, with the highly memorable line, “Yeah mothefucker, now what?” It doesn’t take long for Michael to convince Briar it wasn’t his bag – and of his outrageously proficient thieving skills. With 36 hours to comply to the terrorists’ demands, leading up to – you guessed it – the Bastille Day parade, they team up, utilizing their respective talents to take down the bad guys.
Protests within the city abound, French and U.S. authorities clash, traitors are revealed within the evil French government, political hashtags spread like cancer, and plenty of arbitrary banter ensues between the two leads, some of it mildly amusing, most of it been-there-seen-that stuff, recycled from dozens of better buddy films. “You think I got a chance at the agency?” Michael wonders after pulling off an elaborate little heist. “You got potential,” Briar replies. Love is in the air. It all ends in a massive shoot-out, with Briar a one-man army against dozens of armed officers – until hundreds of protesters get involved.
The film comes alive during its action sequences, which are well-choreographed and suspenseful. Unlike Watkins’ previous effort, the somnambulant Daniel Radcliffe horror smash “Woman in Black,” “The Take” moves at a breakneck pace. It’s got a nice international flavor to it, the setting being Paris and all. Elba is stoic and invulnerable, an amalgamation of all tightly-jawed action heroes of yore, with hints of sorrow behind his eyes. Madden fares worse – while never terrible, he comes off as whiny and one-dimensional. The chemistry between them is minimal – but it’s there, glimmering dimly.
On the flip side, the film is stuffed with conventional villains, its plot nonsensical, containing holes large enough for Elba to power a Jaeger through them. “The Take” shamelessly channels everything from “The French Connection” to “From Paris With Love,” with no hints at depth or meaning. The infusion of “relevant” political themes is laughable in what is essentially a B-movie extravaganza of shoot-outs and cheap explosions. Suspend your disbelief, get stoned, and – for those of you enamored by the lead – bask in the Tao of Elba.
In theaters November 18th
