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Historically, good films choose not to place their openings during Super Bowl weekend in order to not be humbly defeated by the number one watched TV event of the year.  So when a film written and produced by Luc Besson (Leon the Professional) is introduced with a spectacular trailer, I really thought that this trend would be broken.  Then I saw the movie.  Taken is not a bad film, but it is far from good.

What works in the film is the second act, where Neeson goes after the kidnappers by himself.  Neeson seems a bit miscast (I think Denzel Washington would have been a much better choice), but he is a capable actor and pulls the role off fine.  The revenge aspect of the film, which takes up most of the picture, is creative and well executed (no pun intended).  I do think an R rating would have been more appropriate and believable, but if you can watch a film where people don’t bleed when they get shot or stabbed, then you won’t have a problem here. 

I would reckon a guess that this might have been the most challenging film to make in recent memory.  It’s not challenging in regard to special effects, controversy, etc…, but rather due to the question of “how can you possibly make a two hour movie about an interview interesting?”  The answer is a terrific screenplay by Peter Morgan (The Queen) and Ron Howard running the show.  This outstanding production team made a potentially horifyingly boring story into a fast paced thriller-of-a-drama that proves to be more exciting than Howard’s previous critical flop The Davinci Code. 

It also helps to have the two actors from the Broadway show (Langella and Sheen) who came to the set with a pre-loaded chemistry that shines on film.  Along with a solid supporting cast including Oliver Platt, Sam Rockwell, and Keving Bacon, great acting is everywhere you look on screen. 

    There is a day for most kids where Saturday morning cartoons and Sesame Street have grown old and you are looking for something to fill the gap.  For me that gap was filled with professional wrestling.  Even though we only had 7 channels on TV, wrestling was on enough for me to get my fix.  Between Hulk Hogan, Roddy Piper, Junk Yard Dog, Randy Savage, and others, I couldn’t wait to see the soap opera of athletes.  Now, many years later, wrestling has changed completely, and those previously mentioned stars (with the exception of the smart businessman Hogan), are gone from the public eye.  I’d like to think that they didn’t follow the path of our fictional hero “The Ram,” but upon discussing these wrestlers with Director Darren Aronofsky recently over pizza before an advance screening of the wrestler, my fears were confirmed.  One by one we discussed all of the names we remembered, and his research showed very similar stories, in tone, for them all.  It’s a tough sport, which requires heavy damage upon the body, both in physicality and the drugs they all have to take to keep the muscles looking abnormally large. 

    So watching this film with all of my childhood memories and current concerns thrown in the blender, I couldn’t help but get pulled into what could have been the life of my one-time heroes.  The bittersweet drama of a story here is as close to perfect as you can get.  Whether you are watching him try to get something started with a local stripper (Tomei) or trying to mend a relationship with his neglected daughter (Wood), you can’t help but get a sense of authenticity from this tale.

As for the acting – it really is as good as they are saying.  Rourke has been doing nothing but horrible films and throwaway roles for years (with the exception of Sin City) and this movie proves that the talent is still there.  In my conversation with Darren, he scared me quite a bit when he told me that the studio didn’t want Rourke, but rather Nicholas Cage for the film.  He was so confident of Rourke that he decided to skip the studio system and make the film independently, ensuring that the cast would stay the same as he originally conceived.  Maybe it was dedication to the director that Mickey felt, or maybe it’s because he saw too much of himself in the character, but whatever it is, Rourke’s performance here is the best performance of 2008 and should give him a strong chance of taking home an Oscar. 

    I will start by admitting that this is a very interesting story.  As a true tale of heroism, I find the actual events to be rather inspirational.  That being said, the main fault of this film lies within the script.  Throughout the film, much of the dialogue rings false and the many of the characters seem like stereotypes rather than real life-folks put into a horrible situation.  Perhaps this is true due to a desire by the filmmakers to be too true to the story, or maybe it’s because the words and characters look great on paper, but lose their authenticity on screen.  Whatever it may be, these two faults get in the way of a really great story.

    What the film does have going for it are two great leading men in Craig and Schreiber, a fantastic production team, and one of the most beautiful musical scores of the year by composer James Newton Howard and virtuosos violinist Joshua Bell.  I think that had I watched this film as a foreign language movie without subtitles, my opinion of it might be very high.  As it is, I think that some audiences will connect, but many will walk away disapointed.    C+