Take the 10 (2017) Reviews

• Take the other road

  jpt-154-2985662017-01-22

  I'm writing this review in the week that Netflix's stock surged by 10% as they beat market predictions, moving away from their 'rent-a- DVD' model to concentrate on original, quality content. Normally, this one would have slipped under my radar, but I saw it was picked up by distribution by Netflix and thought: let's give it a go. I would describe this movie as being a sort of cross between Clerks and Superbad. It's a day in the life of two low-achieving shelf stackers at a Wholesome Foods (definitely not 'Whole Foods') store somewhere in the urban sprawl of LA. Their goal is to obtain tickets for a sold out concert, and they are not short on schemes to do so: be it ripping off a drug dealer, stealing cash from their boss, counter-ripping off a ticket forging older brother, and so on. This movie's great strength - its random, weird, unpredictable nature - is also its greatest weakness. When watching any one scene, you have no idea what is going to happen. However, it also means the film struggles to find a consistent tone. Some characters (mostly the freeloading Chris) are very wacky and cartoonish. Others, like the conflicted Chester are more maudlin, and it doesn't work very well together. The movie's best and most consistent performance is without doubt the psychotic drug dealer Jay, played by Chester Tam, who was also the movie's writer and director. Every time he's on screen, he's like a force of nature. I was strangely reminded of Joe Pesci in Goodfellas, if he was a 6'5" tattooed Korean. Oddly, the moments that worked the best were the more dramatic ones. The comedy sort of fell flat in a lot of places, probably due to the aforementioned problem of the film not really having a clear idea of how many feet it wanted to keep in reality. A scene where two guys dodge incoming bullets driving down the freeway in a battered Corvette does not play well with a scene where the same two guys have a serious and frank discussion about where their friendship and lives are going. In summary, Take The 10 will probably play well for the late-night comedy (read: 'stoner') crowd, but never guns any higher than that. Bonus points for a cameo role from Andy Samberg ('The Lonely Island') who proves he can make just about anything funny.

• Not for the "Stoner Crowd" either

  Trupiaar2017-01-22

  This movie is garbage. Another review said something about how this will probably play well with the Stoner crowd. Just wanted to say: heck no, this certainly doesn't represent me or any stoner I know. Hollywood is such a shame these days. Tons of good actors and actresses, great work on visuals and scenery, but apparently not a single producer left wants to hire anything but the oldest tired hacks, or total space cases. Awful and out of touch. How do they spend so much producing these movies without bothering to hire decent story writers? Who watches these things? I don't get it. This is right up there with every other tired movie out there right now in terms of horrible.

• Total garbage!

  bluesfan27132017-01-22

  I normally don't review movies, but I just had to take a few minutes to warn everyone not to go near this trash. I only started watching it solely because I'm a fan of Josh Peck and grew up watching Drake and Josh on Nick. This is not even a movie. There is literally NO PLOT! It looks like it is just a cameraman chasing around random people committing crimes and drug deals. They label it as a "comedy" but I didn't even get close to laughing once. The language is very vulgar and inappropriate, containing hundreds of pointless F bombs and frequently references pornography. Not to mention the first 10 minutes of the movie or so ends up repeating itself later on (they literally show the same footage twice). I'm pretty sure you'd have to be high while watching this to even get remotely close to enjoying it. Don't even bother as this crap was 80 minutes of my life I'll never get back.

• One of the Worst Films I Ever Watched!

  philosopherst2017-01-23

  This film was so badly written and directed that I seriously can't believe someone backed this financially nor that Netflix made this one of their original films. In short... it sucks in every way imaginable and isn't the least bit entertaining! The story line makes no sense whatsoever and is a bad investment of your time to even watch. THIS FILM WAS ANYTHING BUT FUNNY not possessing a funny line anywhere in its cliché and pathetic script, or ridiculous antics. Boring would be a compliment to describing this sorry piece of work. Its just so bad it seems to be career assassination for Josh Peck (actor from Drake and Josh) who was one of the two stars in this film, and yet isn't even listed as a star in the credits (not that it helps him in any way). It was such a bad film that I made it a must do task to get online and write this review to warn the next person, which is something I never do. Save yourself the time and money, and simply find yourself something else to watch. Eventually you'll thank me for it later.

• I thoroughly enjoyed it and am surprised at these other hateful reviews!

  ziz_022017-01-22

  I actually reactivated my account to post this review. While this movie is by no means a thinker's movie, I found it to be a very fun watch! Don't listen to these other reviews and give it a try - you won't be sorry. For people who can enjoy movies like the Hangover at the right times, give this one a go. I stumbled onto this movie on Netflix right when it was put up, and got hooked watching it. The narrative is similar to Crash in that its a story that is told in pieces, only to be slowly pieced together as the movie goes on. However, the plot is similar to Harold and Kumar. Lots of funny characters, with actors that put on a genuinely enjoyable performance. Enjoy the surprises! Definitely would recommend!