Movie with Abe: Take Me

Take Me
Directed by Pat Healy
Released May 5, 2017

People run all sorts of businesses. Some are more legitimate, and some more normative, and often the two intersect. And then there are those that are both off-putting in nature and considerably under-the-table in terms of their legality, yet those who operate them might still take pride in the work that they do. How well someone does their job and how above-board it is are two completely different things, yet it does tend to be interesting to see someone treat what others might balk at as completely standard operating procedure, giving it their all despite its truly strange nature.

Ray Moody (Pat Healy) runs Kidnap Solutions, LLC, an agency that specializes in custom abductions, mostly used to help rid people of habits that they would like to cut. His methods are certainly unorthodox, but that doesn’t stop him from going in to a bank to apply for a loan that a horrified teller has no intention of giving him. When he receives a call from business consultant Anna St. Blair (Taylor Schilling) requesting a full-weekend kidnapping, he is reluctant at first and then entirely surprised when, once the simulation begins, she seems to have no knowledge of having contracted him in the first place.

This is a relatively intimate film, one that features a few supporting players, like Ray’s disapproving sister, in short scenes, but mostly this is a two-person show. Ray is a nice guy who puts on a strong front to seem tough, but even he has lines he won’t cross, and he never intends to make anyone feel pain or misery. Anna, on the other hand, is impossible to read, one moment scared for her life and then appearing to bait Ray to be more aggressive in the next. Their relationship is difficult to decipher, but it does make for good entertainment.

Healy, who has appeared in a number of films over the years, steps behind the camera to film his directorial debut, which is definitely a comedy and one that puts him in a fun role at the center. Schilling, best known for “Orange is the New Black,” is the perfect actress to play opposite him, making Anna more than just a one-dimensional character. For the length of its short eighty-four-minute runtime, this film is enthralling and engaging, presenting an adventure that might not be for all tastes but produces more than a few laughs.

B