Don’t make Liam Neeson angry. You wouldn’t like him when he’s angry…
Taken
Directed by Pierre Morel
Starring Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Famke Janssen
***
Move over Jack Bauer and get back to your cave Batman, there’s a new bad-ass vigilante in town. His name is Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) and he’s a former CIA operative who retired from the spy game in order to get to know his daughter, Kim (ex-Lost star Maggie Grace), after missing most of her childhood because of his globetrotting job. Bryan’s extensive experience with the harsh realities have transformed him into the world’s most overprotective dad, which doesn’t exactly endear him to his adventurous daughter or his ex-wife Lenore (Famke Janssen), who has since married a wealthy businessman and regularly lavishes Kim with costly gifts. Lenore’s latest present is an all-expenses paid trip to Europe, where Kim and her best friend will follow U2 around on their continental tour. (Yeah, I know—I don’t buy the idea that two 17-year-old girls would actually want to attend that many U2 shows either. Haven’t the filmmakers ever heard of the Jonas Brothers or Fall Out Boy?) Bryan isn’t thrilled about the idea, but eventually caves and allows his daughter to go off on her European adventure as long as she keeps in regular contact with him.
No sooner have they landed in Paris than Kim and her friend make the acquaintance of a seemingly friendly local, who turns out to have connections to an Albanian crime syndicate that kidnaps female tourists traveling by themselves and sells them into prostitution. While Bryan listens helplessly on the phone, Kim is taken from the apartment where she’s staying and her father has a 96-hour window to find her before she disappears into global sex trade for good. Good thing he possesses, as he tells one of her kidnappers, “a very particular set of skills” that comes in handy for these sorts of operations. Those skills include bone-crunching martial arts moves, experience in various methods of torture and an unwillingness to quit until the mission is complete.
Much like the TV series 24 (an obvious source of inspiration) Taken offers a Dubya-style view of international relations, which basically boils down to: America = Good/Rest of the World = Evil. Not only are the Albanian kidnappers swarthy types with scary tattoos, they do most of their business with Jabba the Hutt-sized Arab sheiks, who swan around in big bathrobes on fancy yachts. The French authorities aren’t much better; those that aren’t hopelessly corrupt are bureaucratic wimps who don’t have the balls to get the job done. Forget forging a coalition of the willing—Bryan’s only hope for getting his daughter back is to take on the enemy by himself.
As a confirmed liberal, I should be horrified by Taken‘s tacit endorsement of torture and vigilantism. And if I thought for a minute the filmmakers were making an actual political argument, I suppose I would have stormed out of the theater fuming. But Taken is an exploitation flick pure and simple, which means it’s deliberately preposterous and often morally reprehensible. It’s also a damn good time at the movies, provided you don’t take any of it too seriously. The key to the film’s success is Neeson’s ferocious performance. One of our very best dramatic actors, Neeson has repeatedly proven himself an exceptional action hero in movies like Rob Roy and Darkman. It’s not just his size and bulk that makes him a perfect fit for these kinds of roles—it’s also, strangely enough, his innate gentleness. He doesn’t want to kick your ass, but he will if you try and stop him from achieving his goal. It’s crucial that the audience be on Bryan’s side from the very first scene and Neeson pulls that off, winning our sympathies early on and keeping us rooting for him even as his actions grew more and more extreme.
Taken is the sophomore outing for Pierre Morel, the director of the equally ridiculous (and equally fun) futuristic action film District B13, which made excellent use of parkour, a crazy form of free-running that most American audiences remember from the opening sequence of Casino Royale. The action here isn’t anywhere near as inventive as Morel’s previous film—it’s all standard hand-to-hand fisticuffs and close-quarters gunfights—but the two pictures do share a similarly relentless pace once the bullets and fists start flying. I should note that Taken takes a little while to get going before that point, as Morel devotes the first half-hour to establishing Neeson’s estranged relationship with his wife and daughter. Important stuff, sure, but this melodramatic material is played so earnestly, it’s hard not to stifle a few chuckles, particularly at Grace’s bratty line-readings. As soon as Kim is taken though, the movie kicks into high gear and doesn’t let up until the closing minutes. Look, I’m not going to pretend that Taken is high art–it’s the exact opposite in fact. But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy watching Neeson kick the crap out of half the population of Paris while trying to get his little girl back.
Verdict: See It
————————————————————————————
Also in Theaters:
The Uninvited
Directed by The Guard Brothers
Starring Emily Browning, Arielle Kebbel, Elizabeth Banks, David Strathairn
**
There are two reasons this remake of the South Korean horror film A Tale of Two Sisters is getting a mild pass for me and their names are Emily Browning and Arielle Kebbel. Get any dirty thoughts out of your heads, guys—these actresses are genuinely talented (at acting, sheesh) and their commitment to their severely underwritten roles goes a long way towards making an otherwise by-the-numbers horror entry even remotely entertaining. Returning to her lakeside home after a stint in a mental institution, Anna (Browning) is unpleasantly surprised to find that her daddy (Strathairn) has shacked up with Rachel (Banks), the super-hot nurse who cared for her deceased mother in the final months of her life. Anna’s older sister Alex (Kebbel) isn’t any happier about this arrangement and the two siblings decide to make getting rid of this interloper their top priority. Unfortunately for them, Rachel has no plans to move on and the stage is set for a battle royale between Daddy’s little girls and his new girlfriend. Oh, and did I mention the strange ghost child who haunts Anna’s dreams, warning her of some dark evil in Rachel’s past? Yeah, there’s one of those in there too. I do have to give the filmmakers some credit for introducing a late-inning surprise plot twist that’s actually surprising, but that doesn’t make up for their lackluster direction throughout the rest of the film. On cable or DVD, The Uninvited would probably be a decent time-waster, but the thought of paying $10 to see this in theaters is scarier than anything in the movie.
Verdict: Rent It
————————————————————————————
The Class
Directed by Laurent Cantet
Starring Francois Begaudeau
****
Hollywood has made numerous movies over the years about inspirational teachers who are able to whip a classroom filled with malcontents and punks into shape with through inspiring monologues and the odd poetry quotation. But those movies are about as realistic as The Lord of the Rings when placed alongside French filmmaker Laurent Cantet’s extraordinary new movie The Class, which won the Palme d’Or at last years Cannes Films Festival and just received an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. (It also made my 2008 Top Ten list.) Cantet’s masterstroke was casting an actual public school teacher–Francois Begaudeau, who wrote a book about his experiences on which the film is loosely based–as his central character and populating his class with real high-school students. Filmed like a documentary, but made up of a mixture of improvisation and scripted dialogue, The Class offers an incredibly detailed and authentic portrait of the small victories and lost opportunities that occur in classrooms in France, America and all over the globe. It should be mandatory viewing for students and aspiring teachers alike.
Verdict: See It
————————————————————————————
Medicine For Melancholy
Directed by Barry Jenkins
Starring Wyatt Cenac and Tracey Heggins
***
Two strangers wake up after a drunken one-night stand at a party somewhere in San Francisco and spend the rest of the day getting to know each other while wandering around the city. Micah (Cenac) is a lonely single guy with an enormous chip on his shoulder when it comes to the Bay Area’s racial and economic issues. The cooler-headed Jo (Heggins) is dating a well-to-do white gallery owner, but seems vaguely unsatisfied with their relationship. Not a lot happens over the course of their time together, but then plot isn’t really the point. Instead, writer/director Barry Jenkins is primarily interested in exploring questions about race and class through the interaction of these two very different people. While Medicine for Melancholy may have benefited from some more dramatic meat on its slender narrative frame, the naturalistic performances and Jenkins’ strong visual eye for San Francisco make this a low-key charmer.
Verdict: Rent It
————————————————————————————
Of Time and the City
Directed by Terence Davies
***
Liverpool-born director Terence Davies revisits the famous British city as it was during his childhood in this compelling cinematic memoir. Employing an impressive array of archival footage, Davies shows off his hometown at its best (bustling ports, smiling children playing in the street) and worst (dilapidated public housing, boarded up factories), all the while intoning some fairly contemptuous narration. Honestly, his relentless sarcasm becomes overbearing after awhile, but if you’re as interested as I am in observing how cities change over time, Davies’ unique film is well worth seeking out.
Verdict: See It
