Post by StevePulaski on Jul 20, 2017 12:25:02 GMT -5
Take Me (2017)
Directed by: Pat Healy
Directed by: Pat Healy
Taylor Schilling in Take Me.
Rating: ★★★½
Pat Healy dons a wig that makes him look like a cross between Michael J. Fox and Corey Feldman. Taylor Schilling gives a performance of contradicting personalities that unifies itself into one of the best performances by an actress of the entire year. And finally, Healy storms on the directorial scene with one of the most impressive debuts since Josh Trank's Chronicle and Jordan Peele's Get Out.
Take Me is a wonderful hybrid between a screwball farce and an intense thriller, complimented by two talented performers and a script that entertains as much as it exhausts. In no more than 80 minutes, Healy and screenwriter Mike Makowsky give us a delicious setup with so much original potential that tantalizes with disturbing hilarity. He plays Ray, an entrepreneur with an unconventional business that has prompted modest success. Ray specializes in high-end, simulated abduction scenarios that involve him concocting an elaborate plan to "kidnap" his clients and keep them locked away in his basement in order to "torture" them to get back on their diets, off alcohol, off drugs, etc. Part of it seems to be a genuine desire to help people. The other seems to be a desire to control something as his life gradually gets away from him.
One day, Ray receives a call from a woman whose hushed voice and crystal clear demands would set her up a great phone-sex gig even in the age of internet pornography. She is Anna St. Blair (Schilling), a wealthy accountant with an office downtown and a lavish home not too far away. She tells Ray her desire to be kidnapped for the entire weekend, 48 hours in total, with negotiable slapping and hitting to play into the scenario as well. Apprehensive at first but further convinced when he sees half of the promised $5,000 deposited into his checking account, Ray goes along with it, staking out Anna's office and home dwellings in advance, before storming into her car after work one day and kicking off the weekend kidnapping.
What entails is tremendous banter between two actors as they shapeshift themselves on opposing playing fields both concocted and grounded in the roles they're already used to embodying in their daily lives. Ray, an average Joe, finally gets to possess some semblance of power, whereas the commanding, powerfully feministic presence of Anna now must be muted into someone more submissive and passive.
Out of both actors playing complex roles with uncertain precedents, Taylor Schilling is the standout here. A career-making performance of deceptively little caliber, Schilling asserts a tough balance of a female character comprised of two archetypes. On one hand, she's a damsel in distress, and on the other, she's the powerful female character. Even more impressive is how Healy doesn't write her character like a sensual, seductive force that imposes her charm on his Ray character. She's never played for cheap, erotic ploys, and as a result, Schilling - whose screen credits include everything from a Nicholas Sparks adaptation to the first part of an Ayn Rand trilogy - can flourish as a complex character with complexities that are noticeable rather than repressed.
Then there's Take Me's commitment to using its premise both as a source of great comedic banter and very prominent tension. Some would call it unevenness. I'd say it's more utilizing the film's premise to its fullest potential, creating something that isn't just partly realized but fully illustrating the perils and the possibilities of its admittedly quirky premise. The fact that Makowsky also makes the film dialog-driven rather than antics-driven shows his commitment to being a more thoughtful writer than this material might initially suggest.
Take Me marks another home-run for Duplass Brothers Production, who have specialized in giving niche films of various genres (particularly dramas) stable distribution platforms via Netflix and limited release. Not only does Take Me fit the bill, but it also serves as one of the best titles from the young company that has done so much for indie cinema in record time.
Starring: Pat Healy and Taylor Schilling. Directed by: Pat Healy.