Written by: Chester Tam
Directed by: Chester Tam
Starring: Josh Peck, Tony Revolori, Andy Samberg, Kevin Corrigan, Chester Tam, Fred Armisen
Rated: TV-MA
Plot
Two best friends steal tickets and drugs from a dealer en route to a hip hop concert.
Verdict
This movie is all over the place. Is it a chase movie or a comedy? Even the movie doesn't know, presenting over the top scenarios and slowing down often to unleash a few one liners. While it relies on raunchy jokes, that's not enough to overcome the lack of focus.
Skip it.
Review
I don't know what this movie wants to be. It wavers between a road trip movie showcasing one liners or dialog and a chase movie with an overly complicated plot. The dialog fails to overcome the problems with the story.
This starts with a how we got here trope, opening on Chester (Tony Revolori) and Chris (Josh Peck) en route to the concert before flashing back to earlier in the day. Their dialog includes a mention of the movie Brown Bunny, as they crudely discuss how far is too far in acting. If you know the movie, you know the scene already. If you don't know that movie, Take the 10 is happy to inform you. Take the 10 is a movie that relies on crude comedy.
Ridiculous scenarios serve as a bridge to showcase rapid fire one liners. The dialog is funny, but doesn't flow. This is a bunch of scenes thrown together without a strong link. I don't expect a comedy to adhere to physics and logic, but Chester's adventure while selling his car doesn't seem to fit in this movie.
Earlier in the day Chester was preparing to sell his car online. Through a Craigslist ad he ends up as an accomplice to a shooting. Why two armed men would use an unknown kid on Craigslist, I can't explain. It's just a contrivance for comedy.
Chester gets a knife that he uses to slash tires. In reality, if you were to stab tires with a knife, the air pressure in the tires would create a small explosion upon puncture. Chester later stabs someone in the hand during a bathroom brawl. It appears the knife punctured ceramic tile, pinning the victim to the floor. That would have to be a very special knife to embed in tile.
The non-linear storytelling complicates the story for no reason other than to hide the thin plot. Chester and Chris's boss at the grocery store is linked to the drug dealer, Jay (Chester Tam), that Chris stole from. While Jay was a more interesting character, he's cliche. He's the tough drug dealer with a softer side that may be bisexual.
These characters collide at the end. While the movie wraps each character's story with a bow, it was unnecessary. This wasn't an ensemble piece. The only characters that have been positioned as ones I should care about are Chester and Chris.
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