DVD Review: TAKERS

TAKERS is an acceptable good crime drama featuring actor Matt Dillion as a a hardboiled detective bent on bringing down a group of bank robbers who appear to be living a life of luxury based off their ill-gotten gains. As far as routine crime dramas go, TAKERS is a decent popcorn movie but hardly a classic. Other reviews of the film tended to be mixed as well.

Certainly the script has many cliché touches here, and the characters seem a little flat to me and sometimes uninteresting, however this was a former #1 at the box office movie when released and only recently has found it's way to home DVD. At the box office this crime drama did much better than many other crime titles did this past year. So it's worth a watch.

TAKERS was originally named BONE DEEP, but the title was changed at some point to make the film more descriptive of it's actual content, I guess. And all of the familiar elements in a good crime story are here the car chases, the crime attempts, and even a Mexican stand-off for good measure. However, the film never rises to the level of terrific. But, it's more than watchable fare by far.

Matt Dillion is always a decent second tier actor. He may never draw in the big theater numbers like a bigger name will, but he can act, and he did his best with what's here with this lukewarm script.

The Bottom Line: While far from the very best movie you'll see this year, TAKERS is a satisfactory, although largely forgettable crime drama. ++ 1/2(Two and a half stars, or a little bit better than fair).