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Take Away tries oh-so-hard to be like its predecessor The Castle that it is almost painful at times. The premise is similar, the depressed suburban setting is similar, supposedly quirky Australianisms are splattered around the script, one of the cast members (Stephen Curry) is common to both movies, while Vince Colosimo even tries to replicate Eric Bana's dry ethnic Australian delivery. But this movie just doesn't cut the mustard: it is predictable, contrived, the performances are only so-so and the ending is ridiculous and lacks The Castle's happy finality. After a mildly-amusing vignette at the start, it soon becomes apparent that Take Away is just going to trade on that same battler-versus-big business premise, and from then on it becomes rather dull.It centres around Tony and Trev, who own take-away stores only doors apart in quiet Australian suburbia. Trev is slobbish, aloof and unrealistic but attracts a steady clientele of yobbos and tow-truck drivers; Tony listens to Anthony Robbins tapes, is clean, organised, conscientious and has pensioners and the middle-class for customers. Their uneasy coexistence is shattered when a multinational burger chain - a fairly obvious pistache of you-know-who - builds a store and drive-thru next door. It is up to Tony and his cousin Sonja, and Trev and his employee Dave to do battle with 'Burgies' to save their businesses.Some good social commentary is part of the 'Burgies' set-up: it employs kids barely out of school, it takes over a public meeting with its ludicrous clown giving out free burgers, it brainwashes kids with its toys and its colour and parents with its give away of four-wheel drives, its food is barely edible and the franchise is managed by a smarmy suited yuppie. When Tony and Trev don the company's idiotic costumes and infiltrate head office to confront the owner, some simple but funny slapstick takes place. But from there it's all downhill for this fairly insipid movie that promised far more than it was able to deliver. One to avoid unless you're very bored and not paying.
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