Take Me Home

My husband and I saw this movie at the Savannah Film Fest, and we thought it was excellent. The characters and the problems with which they dealt seemed real, could've been us or our family members. There were no easy solutions. The writing was subtle and genuinely funny. The filming showed off the country beautifully. The minor characters were well crafted, especially Clair's mother. As the action moves from the frenetic pace of the city through the numbing boredom of major highways to the serenity of nature's wide open spaces, the characters face their inner conflicts and fears. They grow separately, but in that way that others often see us more clearly than we can see ourselves, they also each contribute to the other.

The test of a good movie is whether it invokes interesting discussion afterward. We talked about this one all the way through dinner and the ride home. Do yourself a favor and see it.

This is without a doubt one of the best romantic comedies I've seen in a long while, probably because it didn't come out of the Hollywood mill. With interesting, developed characters, a quirky, fun plot and twists that keep your brain alive, Sam Jaeger did a fine job writing a first class screenplay that doesn't rely on sex, animals, excessive profanity or outrageous antics to keep the laughs coming. Instead it relies on the quirks of the human condition, which is infinitely more funny than over-the-top pranks. The perfect date movie, it would rock the box office if it gets a chance, just by word of mouth. At the premier, a man with a kidney stone tried to tough out his pain just to see the end. Who can beat that for an endorsement?

Take Me Home is a romantic comedy starring Sam Jaeger, a popular TV and character actor. He plays Tom, an aspiring photographer and part-time unlicensed cab driver who is a bit down on his luck. On the evening that he gets kicked out of his apartment for rent delinquency, outfits his cab to try to get a fare and picks up an attractive young woman, Claire, who has recently caught her husband in an affair and also has just found out that her father has had a heart attack. She breaks down in his cab, and tells Tom to "just drive", but eventually hires him to drive all the way to California to find her father. And the road trip is on.

As romantic comedy premises go, this one is just fine, and predictably, the relationship between the two down and out protagonists grows with their own mutual understanding. The most interesting part of this movie to me is that Sam and Amber Jaeger, the leads, are real-life husband and wife, and this seemed to make a big difference to me. The knowing looks that they give each other and the affection that they display are just full of reality and feeling, and I really sensed something different from all other rom-com movies I have seen. The movie is not without flaws, but it is really interesting to see these two actors create characters from the real feelings that they have about each other as people.

Let the buyer beware--if you are not into rom-com and would rather watch the Terminator, this is not your movie. Otherwise, it is very touching and sweet.

Take Me Home (2011)

When a movie makes you want to get on the road and see the country, it's doing something right. In classic storytelling fashion, we begin with some quick and disastrous events by two characters who haven't met. Their lives are in various state of ruin (emotional or actual) and when they meet--well, the sparks definitely do not fly.

But the story begins in earnest. And what is a short drive around New York transforms into the main idea of the movie. And of course the two have to find a way to get along, which involves slowly coming to understand each other mostly by letting their own old habits and presumptions fade away.

The leads are actually a married couple, Sam and Amber Jaeger, and Sam is the director and writer (and producer), so yes, it's a home brew movie. But it's shot with the high end Red digital camera and it feels fully professional. And more important, the acting by these two leads, who dominate the movie completely, is terrific. You feel where both of them are coming from, and when they change it makes sense.

The details of the story sometimes dip into obvious or slightly unbelievable zones. Every now and then the dialog is a hair off kilter. And maybe there could have been a slight shift in pace to keep the flow flowing. It's not a masterpiece, surely, but they know that, too. It doesn't have those kinds of ambitions.

What "Take Me Home" aims for is a light, believable sincerity, a sweetness that we all recognize and sometimes need, and which doesn't get too too sugary. And on that level it's a really enjoyable movie. And it really does make you want to hit the road.

I don't write many reviews, but this movie deserved one. The characters feel very real. I find myself wanting to multitask during most movies, but I ended up glued to the screen watching the subtle changes of expression on the actors' faces that really brought it across.

I thought at first "oh, great, a grumpy woman gets cheated on, grabs a taxi, and they fall madly in love in two days, make out, and shack up by the end of it". Gag. But this movie actually showed a real, believable romance developing, with plenty of the naturally funny bits from the silly quirks most everyone turns out to have when you get to know them.

I usually prefer action movies with a bit of chemistry tossed in, but this was nice. It is a good cuddle on the couch, lazy rainy day movie that, while you won't get great quotes, will leave you with a good feeling at the end.