The Take

Directed by James Watkins, The Take follows Idris Elba’s Sean Briar as he reluctantly works with a pickpocket (Richard Madden’s Michael Mason) to prevent a deadly terrorist attack. It’s a stirring premise that’s employed to watchable yet far-from-spectacular effect by Watkins, as the filmmaker, working from his and Andrew Baldwin’s screenplay, delivers an erratically-paced thriller that ultimately does receive plenty of mileage out of Elba’s top-notch performance – with the actor turning in tough-as-nails work that goes a long way towards smoothing over the narrative’s bumps and lulls. And although the picture’s opening stretch boasts several unexpectedly exciting episodes, including a fantastic rooftop foot chase, The Take progresses into a hit-and-miss midsection focused on Sean’s less-than-enthralling investigation into the aforementioned terrorist attack – with the rather arms-length atmosphere perpetuated by Watkins’ mishandling of certain key high-octane moments (ie it’s just so much shaky camerawork). Such concerns are rendered relatively moot by an entertainingly larger-than-life climax that ensures the whole thing concludes on a memorable, positive note, which does, in the end, cement The Take‘s place as a decent-enough thriller that feels like it should be so much better.

**1/2 out of ****