Takers

Director: John Luessenhop John Luessenhop

Overview

A Los Angeles detective races to bust a group of notorious thieves before they can carry out a 20-million-dollar heist in this crime thriller from director/co-screenwriter John Luessenhop and writing partner Avery Duff. Their heists are planned to perfection, and they never leave behind a shred of evidence. But when greed gets the best of the gang and they agree to one last job, one seasoned detective (Matt Dillon) vows to put them behind bars for good.

Product Details

Release Date:	01/18/2011
UPC:	0043396349940
Original Release:	2010
Rating:	PG-13
Source:	Sony Pictures
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Stereo]
Time:	1:47:00
Sales rank:	32,615

Special Features

"Yeah Ya Know (Takers)" by T.I. - Music Promo; ; Filmmaker & Cast Commentary

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Matt Dillon	Jack Welles
Idris Elba	Gordon Jennings
Tip "T.I." Harris	Ghost
Chris Brown	Jesse Attica
Paul Walker	John Rahway
Hayden Christensen	A.J.
Michael Ealy	Jake Attica
Jay Hernandez	Eddie Hatcher
Steve Harris	Lt. Carver
Johnathon Schaech	Scott
Marianne Jean-Baptiste	Naomi
Gaius Charles	Max
Gideon Emery	Sergei
Zulay Henao	Monica
Glynn Turman	Chief Detective Duncan
Nick Turturro	Franco Dalia
Zoe Saldana	Lilli
Isa Briones	Sunday
Andrei Runtso	Constantine
Vladimir Tevlovski	Ethan
Tim Sitarz	Russian #1
Harrison Miller	Eddie Jr.
Karl Knuth	Scott's Bodyguard
Conrade Gamble	Haitian Thug
Jermaine T. Holt	Dealer #2
Martin Shuler	Prison Guard
Kelvin Brown	Security Guard #1
Danny Epper	Bank Guard #1
Bobby McLaughlin	Bank Guard #2
Nancy Wetzel	Chopper News 14 Reporter
Andrew Fiscella	Security Chief
Juna Kim	Asian Girl #1
Natasha Ellie	African American Girl
Will McFadden	Haitian's Lawyer
Daniel Stevens	Slick
Troy R. Brenna	Sweatpants
Gino Anthony Pesi	Paulie Jr.
Mike Wood	Police Tech
Terrell Lee	Parole Officer
Noelle Smith	Officer of the Day
Lanny Joon	Vice Cop
Roger Stoneburner	Wasted Junkie
Erik Stabenau	Armed Driver #1
Jim Lewis	Armed Driver #2
Matt Taylor	Armed Guard #1
Marcus Young	Armed Guard #2
Jimmy Roberts	Guard #3
Dustin Meier	Guard #4
Jimmy Martinez	Officer in Charge
Laura Shay Griffin	Receptionist
Ashleigh Falls	Frumpy Bank Teller
Joanna Rhambo	Woman in Underwear at Gordon's
Nathan Bell	Cop in a Hole
Joe di Giandomenico	TV News Reporter #1
Craig Susser	TV News Reporter #2
Ben Skorstad	2nd News Helicopter Pilot
Gokor Chivichyan	Russian #2
Roman Mitichyan	Russian #3
Vladimir Orlov	Russian #4
Brad Jensen	News 14 Chopper Pilot
Michael Duisenberg	News Reporter Channel 8
Chris Antonucci	News 14 Camera Crew
John Meier	Police Officer Jesse Chase #1
Scott Wilder	Police Officer Jesse Chase #2
Patrick Stickland	Doorman
Paul Stephen Hubbard	Internal Affairs Officer
Mike Smith	Russian #5

Technical Credits

John Luessenhop

Peter Allen

Gabriel Casseus

Avery Duff

John Luessenhop	Director,Screenwriter
Peter Allen	Screenwriter
Michael Barrett	Cinematographer
Gabriel Casseus	Executive Producer,Screenwriter
Chris Brown	Executive Producer
Chris Cornwell	Art Director
Steve Danton	Asst. Director
Avery Duff	Screenwriter
George Flynn	Associate Producer
Glenn S. Gainor	Executive Producer
Jason Geter	Producer
Tip "T.I." Harris	Producer
Paul Haslinger	Score Composer
Silvina Knight	Makeup
Lindsey Hayes Kroeger	Casting
Maya Lieberman	Costumes/Costume Designer
Armen Minasian	Editor
Morris Chestnut	Executive Producer
Will Packer	Producer
William Packer	Producer
Paul Pirola	Sound/Sound Designer
David Rapaport	Casting
Jon Gary Steele	Production Designer
Nicholas Stern	Co-producer

Scene Index

Disc #1 -- Takers
1. Scene 1 [4:13]
2. Scene 2 [5:15]
3. Scene 3 [1:51]
4. Scene 4 [3:33]
5. Scene 5 [:52]
6. Scene 6 [4:20]
7. Scene 7 [3:55]
8. Scene 8 [4:05]
9. Scene 9 [4:36]
10. Scene 10 [2:33]
11. Scene 11 [4:20]
12. Scene 12 [2:41]
13. Scene 13 [1:57]
14. Scene 14 [4:50]
15. Scene 15 [3:40]
16. Scene 16 [2:57]
17. Scene 17 [2:50]
18. Scene 18 [1:59]
19. Scene 19 [1:49]
20. Scene 20 [3:48]
21. Scene 21 [4:08]
22. Scene 22 [2:47]
23. Scene 23 [2:51]
24. Scene 24 [3:44]
25. Scene 25 [3:49]
26. Scene 26 [6:56]
27. Scene 27 [4:07]
28. Scene 28 [3:08]

Menu

Disc #1 -- Takers
   Play Movie
   Languages
      Languages
         Audio
            English
            French
         Subtitles
            English
            English SDH
            English Subtitled Commentary
            French
            Spanish
            Subtitles: Off
   Scene Selections
   Special Features
      Previews
      Commentary With Director John Luessenhop, Producer Will Packer, Producer Jason Geter and Tip "T.I." Harris: On/Off
      "Yeah Ya Know (Takers)" By T.I. - Music Promo

Editorial Reviews

What is it about thieves in movies that causes them to lose any sense of practicality? Don't they ever think about setting up a retirement plan so they don't have to pull that "last big job" that invariably goes wrong? And when someone offers them a deal that seems to be too good to be true, don't they know that it almost certainly is, as we've all been told? I mean, a lot of thought goes into a big heist, or at least that's sure what the average caper movie leads us to believe. So how do these master criminals never see the obvious flaws in their plans? All of these thoughts might run through your mind while watching Takers, though admittedly not for long -- while it's even more improbable than the average heist movie, the picture is fast and stylish enough to roll over the lapses in its own logic like a tank over a pothole, and Idris Elba's performance is strong enough to give the movie some much-needed gravitas. Takers wastes no time introducing us to its crew of upscale burglars in the midst of a heist. Gordon (Elba) is the cool, thoughtful leader of the crew, and John (Paul Walker) is his quietly confident second-in-command. Jake (Michael Ealy) is the weapons expert and sensitive guy of the group, while his younger brother, Jesse (Chris Brown), is bright and fast on his feet but a little too cocky for his own good. And piano-playing A.J. (Hayden Christensen), who looks like a lost character from Swingers, is the gadget and hardware expert. These guys are clearly very successful and live like high rollers, flaunting their wealth and expensive good taste at every opportunity (so much for not calling attention to your ill-gotten gains). While celebrating their latest score, they're visited by Ghost (Tip "T.I." Harris), a former member of the team, who after six years has just been released from prison. Ghost has a beef with his former partners, especially Jake, who is now engaged to Ghost's former girlfriend Rachel (Zoe Saldana), but is willing to forgive and forget in exchange for helping stage a daring robbery of an armored car loaded with 25 million in cash. However, the big job needs to take place in a week, and this pushes the crew's planning capabilities to the edge, especially when Gordon's drug-addicted older sister, Naomi (Marianne Jean-Baptiste), decides to check herself out of rehab early and appear at his doorstep. Meanwhile, Jack (Matt Dillon) is an obsessive police detective in the classic style -- divorced, loves but ignores his daughter -- who has been investigating the bank job that opens the movie and is grimly determined to put the thieves behind bars, while his more laid-back partner, Eddie (Jay Hernandez), worries about him when he isn't dealing with his chronically ill son. Takers was directed by John Luessenhop, who is also one of four credited screenwriters, and most of the time he keeps the story moving relentlessly forward, which is good thinking since this is the sort of movie that trips itself up when it slows down. Most of the characters aren't at all well drawn, and the only one with a backstory that amounts to anything is Gordon, as he struggles with a tricky heist and a complicated relationship with his sister. Idris Elba gives what's easily the film's best and most subtle performance, and his strength, intelligence, and caution carry the movie over more than a few rough spots. (And Marianne Jean-Baptiste, who earned an Oscar nomination for her work in Secrets & Lies, does the best she can in what practically defines the term "thankless role" as his sister.). Matt Dillon clearly tries his best with a role that rounds up most available clichés about the cop whose life is his work, and the rest of the cast struggles to make much of their sketchy characters. Hayden Christensen's greatest triumph is that you lose the desire to strangle him by the halfway point, while Tip "T.I." Harris' performance is so one-note in its villainy that it's hard to imagine how anyone with any sense would trust him. Luessenhop also subscribes to the current conventional wisdom on staging action sequences that the more your camera shakes and the faster you cut, the better, which reduces several chase sequences to several incoherent minutes of random blurs. But Luessenhop does manage to come up with a reasonably imaginative robbery and keeps the tension steady throughout, even if his obvious John Woo lifts call too much attention to themselves. Takers is a non-think action flick that works just well enough to make its hour and three-quarters move by amusingly and painlessly, though it doesn't hold up to careful thought afterward, and Elba definitely deserves to be the lead in a better and more challenging movie.

All Movie Guide - Mark Deming