Friday, December 2, 2011

Fab Flick Friday: The Take

It’s December 2nd, and you know what that means…

‘Tis the season to watch a really awesome British miniseries about a mob family in the 1980s, starring perhaps the most talented actor out there today.

And talk about a coincidence - the first installment of The Take premieres on Encore tonight!


The 2009 miniseries, based on the novel by the same title, stars the deliciously sexy and unbelievably gifted Tom Hardy as Freddie, a man just released from prison who begins working his way up the crime boss ladder. Spanning four episodes and ten years, The Take chronicles Freddie’s spiral all over crazy town and his unstable (to put it lightly) relationship with his family. It’s a story of betrayal, jealousy, greed and more than a few splashes of insanity. It’s not exactly a holiday movie, but hey, we’ve got a whole month to watch those.

The entire cast is spectacular, and Tom Hardy’s performance truly highlights why he’s often compared to Marlon Brando. His Freddie shows what fans of his Bill Sikes and Heathcliff already knew – and that is that nobody can play someone totally bananas quite in the way that Tom Hardy can. It’s one of those rare performances that terrifies you every time you watch it – the kind that haunts you, stays with you, and keeps you on the edge of your seat, holding your breath, peering over a throw pillow. Between his imposing stance, crazed look in his eyes and eerily calm tone, you actually believe that he is this insane-in-the-membrane killer. It’s nothing short of brilliant, and with Tom Hardy, you’d expect nothing less.

If you think you’ve had enough of your run-of-the-mill mob movies, don’t dismiss The Take as just another of the bunch. It’s filled with messy relationships, wonderfully complicated characters, and an intense chain reaction of ugly events and dire consequences. The only thing wrong with this miniseries is that it hasn’t aired on American TV until now.

These next few months are going to be jam packed with Tom Hardy. Hopefully, he’ll get some well deserved recognition during award season for Warrior. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy will be released in just another week, and then we have This Means War, Wettest County and Dark Knight Rises coming out in 2012. (I don’t think I’ve been this excited about anything since the Royal Wedding.) So why not get a head start on the Year of Tom Hardy by tuning into The Take tonight at 8? Not only will you get hooked on the story, you can also be totally cool when he becomes next year’s Sexiest Man Alive, when you can talk about how you knew him when.

Don’t have Encore? Don't fear! The Take is also available on DVD.  

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