Take the Night

Take the Night has an entertaining premise and a mildly intriguing story. Unfortunately it's a mostly low-quality movie, especially with the acting and dialogue. It's not put together very well and is surprisingly slow for such a short movie. The best part is the musical score. I didn't hate watching it, but it's definitely not good. (1 viewing, 7/13/2022)

"Take the Night" is a new crime drama that follows two rivaling brothers who must set aside their beef and takedown a motley crew of criminals that stole a family heirloom during a botched abduction.

This film is bad. Here are 13 reasons where I think the film went wrong.

1. Seth McTigue. He co-wrote the screenplay, leads the cast, co-produced this film and directed it. This is his first feature film credit. He was too involved in this project and needed some distance from it to understand what works and doesn't.

2. The story meanders. There's a subplot surrounding one of the antiheroes, which was more compelling than the main plot and the main characters. He's a former basketball star who's food insecure and robbing as a means to eat. That was more compelling than a jealous brother hiring the wrong criminals to kidnap his brother as a sick prank.

3. The pacing is belabored and so incremental to the point that the viewer is inundated with unnecessary information, which doesn't move the story along. It takes 36 minutes to get to the inciting incident- the actual abduction.

4. The performances were weak. The actors stare aimlessly as if they're reaching for their lines.

5. The dialogue is amateurish. Lines are redundant, reiterating action that is already descriptive. Over-explaining conveys that the writer doesn't trust the audience to understand what's happening onscreen.

6. The stunts are sloppy. And not just the choreography, but the editing of the stunts are blunt and choppy.

7. Speaking of editing - some scenes are too short and break abruptly. Other scenes are too long and float like segments.

8. Cinematography. The camera gets shaky - not purposely like a steadicam in action sequences, but uncontrollably shaking during dialogue heavy scenes. The camera lands on characters and lingers even when they aren't the subject.

9. The characters are flat and one-dimensional and there are too many of them to follow. Their backstory is cheapened by flashing back to their respective childhoods. The viewer is given more info about arbitrary characters than about the main brothers. And, their backstory doesn't make you root for them as dual protagonists. The former basketball player's backstory has more dramatic tension that makes the viewer care. And characters are introduced that serve no purpose in the story. Wasted on scenes that don't drive the story at all.

10. The lighting is gloomy. The location shots are too inky and shadowy.

11. The score is too loud and domineering to the point that it tries to carry the load of the performances to drive the dramatic tension, which was irritating.

12. The concept isn't original. I think they were going for David Fincher's THE GAME but the build-up to the action fizzles because too much time is wasted on irrelevant plot points, dead-end storylines and under-developed characters.

13. Finally, the Title. It has nothing to do with nothing.

TAKE THE NIGHT is a masterclass in bad filmmaking. It's imperative to take some distance and not have your hands in all the pots so that you have objectivity without compromising your creativity.

Ignore the clearly blatant and bogus high reviews, as well as the tools who gave this film one's and two's, as this film deserves neither. What this is, is a great first full length feature film as writer, director (only a handful of prior short films), producer and first-time actor co/star for Seth McTigue.

His directing was surprisingly spot-on, and the cinematography near perfect, with an impressive tension-filled score that was fitting and captivating - especially for a B film.

Casting and performances were on point, and the production values quite impressive. The story was great conceptually and executed cohesively, although some tweaking by a seasoned writer would've complimented the screenplay greatly. There were some character developments that lacked clarity and needed more depth, that otherwise felt like filler; e.g. Why/what's the deal with the Bonsai tree?

There were some plot issues, and although I get the last act, it could've been better played out. The film also needed more substance and dramatics, and less convoluted and unnecessary filler that made it lack the depth and scope one would expect in this genre.

The pacing was a little slow, but the comfortable 82 min runtime with constant suspenseful twists and the excellent score, will keep you engaged throughout.

Nevertheless, I applaud this newb filmmaker/actor, because he still created a little gem, rookie mistakes and all. It's a solid 7-8/10, but only gets a 6 from me for the blatant high reviews of which I can't stand.

Take the Night is a thrilling movie from beginning to end with a prank kidnapping, unexpected plot twists and strong acting from the entire cast. Great cinematography, lighting and music. Impressive first feature film by the director.

Heist drama, not necessarily a heist thriller. Lot's of emotional weight many of the characters carry with them. Overall well done and a fairly tight 90 minutes.

I enjoyed the writer was able to voice characters that truly felt separate/distinct from each other.