ReelBob: ‘Take the Night’ ★★½
By Bob Bloom
“Take the Night” is an interesting caper film that, unfortunately, bites off a little more than it can chew.
Writer-director Seth McTigue, who also stars, creates an interesting premise — a resentful older brother arranges a fake kidnapping of his younger brother as a surprise birthday prank.
The crew he hires, though, does not seem to be in on the joke and actually abducts the brother.
But that is just the bones of the story.
The film deals with sibling rivalry, family secrets and the mental health of veterans.
After the death of their father, Robert Chang (Sam Li) is put in charge of the family corporation. His older brother, William (Roy Huang), is not happy with the situation and demonstrates it through his insolent actions. Still, he plans the party for his workaholic brother who doesn’t have the time nor the inclination to celebrate his 25th birthday.
He hires Chad (McTigue), his younger brother and two friends to stage the “crime.”
Things go very wrong as, after Robert is taken, the crew breaks into his home and, having obtained the combination to his wall safe, steal its contents.
McTigue leads you down the garden path, throwing suspicion on William.
The mystery is the identity of the puppet master pulling Chad’s strings. After a while, it is easy to identify the mastermind.
That, however, should not deter you from checking out this movie which, at 82 minutes, moves at a brisk enough pace to keep you engaged.
Chad and another of his crew are veterans and both show signs of PTSD. But that thread is left undeveloped, which would have added some context for the crew’s actions.
“Take the Night” is a decent potboiler that tries to be more than a crime thriller. McTigue takes a good shot, but narrowly misses hitting a bulls-eye.
I am a founding member of the Indiana Film Journalists Association. I review movies, 4K UHD, Blu-rays and DVDs for ReelBob (ReelBob.com), The Film Yap and other print and online publications. I can be reached by email at bobbloomjc@gmail.com. You also can follow me on Twitter @ReelBobBloom and on Facebook at ReelBob.com or the Indiana Film Journalists Association. My movie reviews also can be found at Rotten Tomatoes: www.rottentomatoes.com.
TAKE THE NIGHT
2½ stars out of 4
Not rated, language, violence