Four-part mini-series The Take [Encore, Fridays, 9/8C] is an explosive crime thriller that feels like a fusion of The Sopranos and Shakespeare.
Freddie Jackson [Tom Hardy] comes out of prison expecting to be running a criminal enterprise headed by the still-imprisoned Ozzy [Brian Cox], but things aren’t that easy. Aided by his cousin Jimmy [Shaun Evans], though, Freddie is able to establish himself though a mix of Jimmy’s intelligence and his own violent tendencies and cunning.
All the while, Freddie’s wife, Jackie [Kierston Wareing] is falling apart because of the shoddy way he treats her – and his habit of cheating on her. Having a son, Little Freddie, doesn’t help in any way.
At the same time, Jimmy and Jackie’s sister, Maggie [Charlotte Riley] fall in love and get married – and, thanks to Jimmy’s attention and intelligence, progress from the same humble beginnings to a much better life situation – further alienating Jackie and earning Freddie’s disdain and jealousy.
Each of The Take’s four one-hour chapters begins in a specific year – noted by a card at the beginning of each one [1984, 1988, 1994…] – and follows the characters through different stages of their lives: the rough and ready beginnings; the initial stages of success; the growth of families, and so forth.
With Freddie and Jimmy working in a kind of semi-organized criminal enterprise, there comes a certain amount of violence – most of it brutish – and an accumulation of secrets. One of the biggest connects Freddie and Jimmy is a most unexpected way – and with logical, but still largely unexpected consequences.
Based on the novel by Martina Cole, The Take was adapted by writer Neil Biswas [Skins] and brought to life by director David Drury [Blue Murder, Ashes to Ashes]. It’s a slightly more than deliberately paced tale with a few overly melodramatic moments and enough violence [some as shocking as it is unexpected] to warrant an R rating.
Tom Hardy [Inception, The Dark Knight Rises] once again shows his range as the near-animalistic Freddie, whose savagery and cunning are offset by moments of incredible vulnerability. Shaun Evans [Being Julia, Gone] makes Jimmy’s progression from the smart, sensitive one who knows when to hang back to the much darker, more proactive crime boss-in-waiting completely believable. Brian Cox’s [RED, Zodiac] Ozzy is a combination of the nastier bits of Tony Soprano with the intelligence of a Michael Corleone.
Kierston Wareing [Wire in the Blood, Luther] plays Jackie as a ferocious presence that crumples before our eyes. Charlotte Riley [Easy Virtue] plays Maggie, the much more together sister, with an easy grace that falters in extreme situations.
The Take is not an easy series to watch. It pulls no punches with its violence – and it spells out the consequences of any and all actions, smart or harebrained, unflinchingly. It may get a bit too melodramatic at times, but it is definitely engrossing.
As an original presentation on Encore, it speaks to the possibility of yet another premium cable channel on its way to building a reputation for quality television.
Final Grade: B+
Photos courtesy Encore.