Take Out (2004)

An illegal Chinese immigrant falls behind on payments on an enormous smuggling debt. Ming Ding has only until the end of the day to come up with the money.

Directors:

Sean Baker, Shih-Ching Tsou

Writers:

Sean Baker, Shih-Ching Tsou

Stars:

Charles Jang, Jeng-Hua Yu, Wang-Thye Lee

2 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Charles Jang	...	Ming Ding
Jeng-Hua Yu	...	Young
Wang-Thye Lee	...	Big Sister
Justin Wan	...	Wei
Jeff Huang	...	Ma
Shih-Yun Tsou	...	Collector #1
Joe Chien	...	Collector #2
Waley Liu	...	Ming's roommate
Ed Jansen	...	Ming's roommate 2
David Liu	...	Ming's roommate 3
Eva Huang	...	Ming's cousin
Ethel Brooks	...	First delivery
Victor Sally	...	Fried hard
Tanya Perez	...	Second delivery
Maria Greenspan	...	Portuguese delivery

Storyline

An illegal Chinese immigrant falls behind on payments on an enormous smuggling debt. Ming Ding has only until the end of the day to come up with the money.

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Plot Keywords:

f rated | 

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Taglines:

One Illegal Immigrant, One Smuggling Debt, One Day to Pay Up

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English Mandarin Spanish

Release Date:

18 January 2004 (USA)

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$3,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$10,505, 8 June 2008, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$66,892, 21 September 2008

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cre Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Soundtracks

BlakGerl
Written by Lesonya Gunter (as La Sonya Gunter) and Funkstew
Performed by Lesonya Gunter (as La Sonya Gunter)
Courtesy of A Blakdol Recording
www.lasonyagunter.com
www.zoomoozik.com/lasonyagunter

User Reviews

An interesting early feature by Sean Baker

Sean Baker has made some really stunning micro budget films in recent years. Both his much lauded "Tangerine" and less known but equally excellent "Starlet" were wonderful comedy- dramas, artfully telling takes of those normally overlooked by mainstream cinema.

"Take Out" is not quite as strong as those later works, but is still well worth seeing.

This verite style study of a Chinese food deliveryman's desperate rush to earn $800 to pay off the loan sharks that helped pay his way to the US has a nifty sense of almost documentary realism. The acting is very real and understated (by a mixed cast of actors and non-pros), and the tension level is high.

I didn't have quite as strong a positive reaction as most of the critics for a few reasons. First, while avoiding movie clichés for the most part, a couple of key 'twists' are broadcast a mile off, dampening their impact. Also, by making his lead character such a cipher (he not only doesn't speak English, but seems inward and withdrawn even among his fellow Chinese), that it's hard to build up a connection with him as a character. Yes, we can pity his plight, but I wanted to understand what was going on in his head. Also, the shaky-cam shooting style occasionally called more attention to itself then I think it was intended to.

It reminded me a bit in tone of Ramin Bahrani's terrific "Man Push Cart", but for me that early work had a little more poetry and richness.

None-the-less, an intelligent, well-meaning micro budget film (it looks like it was shot on regular definition video), and - given my fondness for Baker's more recent films - I'll certainly go back for another look.