Take the Night

Crime flick lacks grit.

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I got roped into reviewing “Take the Night” (now playing in select theaters and available on VOD beginning Tuesday, July 12) based upon the inclusion of a neon green Lamborghini on the movie’s poster. I was like a kid at a Scholastic Book Fair in the 1990s yearning for a Lambo poster or Channing Tatum’s Lambo-lovin’ Jenko from “22 Jump Street.” The Lambo’s lure proved too strong for this intrepid critic.

William (Roy Huang) and Robert Chang (Sam Li) are the heirs to the multinational corporation Chang Import after the death of their father (Kelvin Han Yee). Robert, despite being the younger of the two brothers, has been named as the company’s CEO.

William, resentful of his younger brother’s standing, hires PTSD-afflicted veteran Chad (Seth McTigue) to prank kidnap Robert in hopes of loosening up the youthful CEO on his 25th birthday. Turns out Chad and his co-conspirators – his loud-mouthed younger brother Todd (Brennan Keel Cook), Todd’s onetime NBA prospect buddy Shannon (Shomari Love) and mute fellow vet Justin (Antonio Aaron) – have more devious intentions up to and including raiding the Chang brothers’ safe for gold bricks, expensive jewelry and watches and crypto currency access (Way to date yourself, movie!).