A big negative with me is any movie that claims to have a "message." Nobody in today's corrupt Hollywood has any moral authority to deliver a message to anyone. Thus, perhaps, the extreme box office failure.I disregard any and all reviews from anyone who says they saw a movie at a film festival. All hyped up from being invited, and seeing a star or two in person; they get all dew eyed and overpraise.The plain fact is that TAKE is an interesting but mediocre movie, not worth $11 or 90 minutes of anyone's time. I enjoyed the settings and some of the director's work was good; but that's about all. At least it wasn't a Good Robot kills Bad Robot action flick.

I notice all the people giving this high marks saw it at a film festival -- with the actors and writer/director in attendance. I think this has tilted their objectivity -- made them more enamored of it.I found this movie just dark, grimy, grungy and relentlessly sad and slow-moving. There is some deep booming sound on the soundtrack that occurs just before something bad happens (and a lot of bad things happen) -- it made me want to jump out of my skin.I'm sure the cinematography is great -- but it's mostly of junky-looking places.The actors are all very good. The story was OK -- but I think I've seen the topic addressed on Lifetime made-for-TV movies.If you like really slow-moving stories about hopeless people leading hopeless lives -- then this is the film for you.It's not my cup of tea. I had to come home and put on a DVD of a good comedy movie so I wouldn't have nightmares.

Watching this film truly is an experience. It works on so many levels. It is heavy (appropriately) but it's accordingly powerful and meaningful. And even though the ending is what we feared it must be all along, the weight of the subject matter is somehow lightened as the credits roll, and we find reason to hope and believe that good can be found in even the most terrible situations. This film was clearly crafted with fierce attention to detail, and the combination of direction, cinematography, performance, and sound is wonderful to take in. For me, it is truly amazing that this film was helmed by a first-time director. There's confidence and clarity in the way the audience is carefully guided through the various environments of the film, and it's obvious (though not overbearing) that, again, no detail – visual or aural – was overlooked. The principle players particularly bring real weight and believability to their characters, and for me they conveyed a sense of familiarity, a feeling of real life that rang true, even though I thankfully haven't had to experience the majority of what these people go through. The film leaves you with many things to think about – valuable things – and reason to empathize somewhat with someone that maybe you wouldn't have given much thought to a little less than two hours before.

Heavy subject, but wonderfully executed. There was enough detail to make the story line real. I loved the "real" feeling of the cinematography as well, it made it more believable. The actors came across as real people. The movie did a good job at letting the audience get to know the main characters - which was absolutely vital for this movie to be a success. I think this movie will be better the second time around - all truly good movies are - as you catch even more of the details. I gave it a 9 instead of a 10 because there were a couple of scenes where the acting was a little bit bland/did not quite hit the mark. This is a movie I would recommend to friends and it is a movie that keeps you talking and thinking long after you have seen it. I am so glad I got to see it. I can't wait to see it again.