A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Blistering performances.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

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 thoroughly enjoyed Take. It was a different experience for me than any other movie I have seen. After reading the Take website (takethemovie.com), I was very concerned about ruining my macho image by crying. It turns out that I did not cry but was profoundly and deeply moved by the movie (way beyond crying). I was riveted to the screen throughout the movie and at the moment of resolution, I found myself understanding life from a deeply new perspective. Take helped me to think more deeply about my relationships with those who have been a source of grief in my life. I think I will be a little bit better person for having seen Take.

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.

I loved this movie. Not that it's an easy film to watch - some parts were a little painful to experience. But I couldn't stop thinking about it for the next few days. Very few movies do this for me (Million Dollar Baby comes to mind). The idea that opposing sides of an extreme situation could both be so believable and relatable, that's the genius of this film in my opinion. I think if I had rated it right after I saw it, I probably would have given it 9 stars. But that wouldn't be right, because it doesn't take into consideration the impact it had on me. I hope it gets picked up because I want to take my two teenagers. It's one of those few thoughtful films that everyone should see.