Huievest Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

ChicDragon It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

Gary The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

mantisfist6 Tom Hardy stars in this 3 hour, 4 part 'mini-series' as Freddy. A sociopathic, violent and sadistic young man recently out of prison. Starting off in 1984, the film charts Freddy's up's (and subsequent downs) in two further timeframes (1988, and 1994). The plot revolves around the family unit surrounding Freddy.. His wife and 3 kids, as well as his best mate, who ends up marrying Freddy's wife's younger sister. Add to this the 'shadowy' character of Ozzie, the old and grizzled big boss, still in prison but still calling the shots... And you get a somewhat compelling storyline. The acting is great, across the board. However, there are some major problems. The first is that this could easily have been cut down into a 2 hour long film. Too many scenes go on for too long, too many just seem to revolve around establishing shots, and the sheer number of extended takes of people dancing to music gets annoying very quickly. Add to this some very poor production values, you can tell this is made on a relatively small budget. A woeful musical score, that doesn't include any recognisable songs from the era it's set. The worst part though is that the series doesn't know what it wants to be. Drama? Thriller? Psychological character study? Comedy? Tragedy? It seems to want to blend in too many different genres, and contradicts itself in terms of stylisations. It doesn't help that the underlying plot points disappear, when the 'elephant in the room' plot thread comes into play in the last act. And to top it all off, the ending was a massive cop-out that had me asking questions the narrative posed, but never answered.

Angelus2 After leaving prison Freddie hopes to take over the criminal empire of his boss, Ozzy. However, Freddie's hot temper is his biggest enemy. His cousin, Jimmy however, is smart and a born businessman, who quickly becomes Ozzy's favourite....While Freddie is left on the outside. The story also focuses on the women in Freddie and Jimmy's life.The show incorporates some wonderful characters and the actors give some amazing performances, especially Tom Hardy who is sublime as the menacing psychopath, Freddie; it is all in his voice and how he seems to stare into ones soul. What's even more brilliant is that the story never ceases to become boring, it is always tense and powerful.

jfcthejock Brilliant, what can I say most novel TV adaptations suck but this and along with another prize winning adaption, the Red Riding Trilogy they both have brought British Drama back with a vengeance that could rival the Americans for the title. In regards to the American counterparts with their crime Dramas, we as British always have darker tales because we do not skimp on detail or grit and thats what is definitely not skimped on in The Take.Dark, gritty, heartbreaking even TEAR JERKING with a really sad experience for all women, and an even sadder consequence of it. The Take gives Britain a stepping stone just as Red Riding did that we can make good television. The only other programmes I can think that gives us this grittiness, would be Red Riding by a land mile and the likes of Murphy's Law, Cracker and Wire In The Blood. Brilliant TV with a great cast, not much more could be said for Brian Cox, a great actor but with perfect performance by Tom Hardy and Shaun Evans this adaption was only made even better. A great supporting cast too with Charlotte Riley and Kierston Wareing, who prove they can really give outstanding performances. Great TV that we all want more of.

davoshannon Only watched half an episode, and already like it.Brian Cox is always worth watching, but his young protogée is a psycho worth a glance as well. Shades of the Krays in the masked but finally explosive violence.Only thing I would have improved on so far is the engine in the Capri (well it's the '80's) - it's only a 1.6 Laser. Hadn't the props boys heard of the 3 litre, or depending on the actual timescale the final 280.The title might have been suggested by Peter Gabriel's lyric "if you don't get given, you learn to take" - but that was about something entirely different. (Peter Gabriel - "I shoot into the sun") Good stuff.OK, coming back to edit my comments, and noticing a few of you didn't find the comment useful. Bugger off!.Watching the final episode now, and it's just reinforcing my initial thoughts. This is hard stuff. Like Eastenders (which I don't watch deliberately) on smack. Baseball bats, and even shades of Hostel.Pay careful attention to the scene in the hairdressing salon between the sisters, when one "wants to look like" the other. Desperate situation.Finally, not only Brian Cox but the entire cast do an excellent job, and the part of the "wronged sister" is played by someone with such subtle eye movements that I hope her star rises quickly.