Take Me Home – Romantic Comedy Movie Review

I grew up watching old movies and telling my friends about each one in detail. Later I took classes in video production as well as acting. I hate amateur productions masquerading as professional film productions. The big give-away is the audio. With video you can see if something is too dark, too bright, out of focus, out of frame, etc. With audio you never really know until you get back to the studio to edit. I once stopped at a friend’s multi-camera production of a rock concert some years ago. I stepped into the production van and within seconds said, “The audio’s over driven.” My friend pooh-poohed my comment. I just shrugged my shoulders and left. Back in the studio the next day we listened to the over-driven recording. You can adjust video quite a bit and cover up some problems, but with audio you’re stuck with what you shoot. Or in my friend’s predicament, stuck with what he didn’t get.

As I look for good movies to watch I have been disappointed with many failed productions, mostly because of the audio. Bad acting shows up in the audio. Quite often I can watch what would have been a really bad film by turning the audio completely off and simply reading the closed captioning (if it is in sync). Bad movies frequently have other audio problems, like incongruent music choices that clash with the storyline or the feeling of a particular moment. In many instances the music over-powers the actors’ spoken words.

How Can I Lose

Fortyfive – Jordan Beckett

“There are range of various levels of consciousness in the universe, and they are not always balanced. Every object is related to others, never any separate object, all have correlation between them, one influences other, because they are within the same pattern of evolution in the universe.” – Chandrady Rahardja

Take Me Home has a perfect balance between the characters, humor, romance, pace, reactions, feelings, audio, music and a desire to be better people to find caring and love.

Claire, played by Amber Jaeger, comes home early and finds her husband with another woman ? just talking. She feels betrayed. The next day Claire knows the marriage is over and she leaves her New York office and hails a cab. Thom, driving an old New York City Cab picks her up. “Just drive,” she instructs him several times before she lies down in the backseat and cries herself to sleep. The next morning, she wakes up, looks around and asks, “Where are we?”

Not only is Claire blue from her marriage problems, but also from the news that her estranged father has had a heart attack.

Claire and Thom argue until a bargain is struck. For $5,000 Thom will drive Claire to California where her father is in the hospital. Things go well until she goes shopping at a Brooks Brothers outlet store and loses her purse. She now has no cash, no credit cards and refuses to contact her husband.

Thom: I have 83 dollars to my name.

Claire: I thought you were a therapist.

Thom: Uh, just playin’ around.

Claire: So, you’re, you’re poor?

Thom: No, “you’re” poor. I have 83 dollars.

My favorite scene. Thom and Claire have slept in the cab. They are in a mall parking lot. Clair wakes and goes to find a bathroom. As soon as she is out of sight, Thom starts his cab and drives away. He has a huge smile on his face having put one over on Claire. As the seconds pass, we see his expression change and he know he has to go back. It’s a very nice fade from joy to reality and caring. Clair is waiting on a bench with no place to go. She is a nice person who needs help. Thom is a nice person who needs help and simply can’t refuse someone else who needs his help. The expression we saw on his face tells the entire tale.

Thom is played by Sam Jaeger, who also wrote and directed the film. This combination usually results in a horrible film, but both Sam and Amber play sympathetic characters and you want them to come together and be happy. In real life Sam and Amber met in college and are married to each other and have four children. Both actors have stayed busy in the industry.

Thom eventually arrives in Boulder, Colorado, with Claire asleep. We see the cab pull up to a house and Thom gets out and climbs up to the second story and lets himself in. He helps himself to some cash and then hears the doorbell ring. Clair has awakened and gone looking for him. Thom hears her talking and questions are being asked downstairs.

Thom is forced to reveal himself and has to explain himself and actions to his mom and dad. The dad played by Victor Garber, a well-seasoned actor from Canada, is saddened by the display and quietly asks Tom if he needs money. The mom is played by Cristine Rose, who is just thrilled to see her son return, “Oh, what fun!” This family visit soon turns to Claire’s impending family visit which leads to her father’s funeral and a final retreat with her husband back to New York.

Thom: Eventually you have to settle down.

Claire: Some people settle down, and some people just settle.

Thom: Well, it’s clear which category you fit into.

Here are two of my favorite pieces of music from Take Me Home:

How Can I Lose – Shirley Ann Lee

Fortyfive – Jordan Beckett

One review on IMBD says, “Beautiful, non-formulaic romantic comedy” and another says “Feel-good movie I’m glad I watched.”

Do Claire and Thom ever get together? Well, of course, it’s a romantic comedy, but the story line is deftly woven. I don’t know how many times I’ve seen this film. I’ll turn it on when I can’t sleep. I tell myself I’ll just watch it until I fall asleep, but I have so many favorite scenes, I watch it all the way through every time, even replaying my favorite scenes as well ? once or twice. The action, the story, the characters, the music, all work together to take me home, too.

For more details about Take Me Home – imdb.com/title/tt1261954/?ref_=ttfc_fc_tt