As Good As It Gets

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

I enjoyed this film. I thought it was good fun to watch, and just easy entertainment for a Friday night at the movies/DVD. The premise is easy to follow. Two Fish and Chip shop owners who hate eachother, find that they have to work out their differences to stop the construction of a Burgie's Burger's (An Hilarious spoof of Mcdonald's) right next door to their shops. The simple story includes hilarious jokes, a pretty enjoyable ending (most people complained about it, but I thought it was funny and unexpected), A bit of romance, Revenge, a traitor and much more. I have read bad reviews for this film, and I must say I found something in common. They were basically saying that it was unoriginal, stupid and had a predictable ending. Ok, well let me just say that most films these days are unoriginal, the comedy wasn't genius and I couldn't see that ending comming. So for once, just sit back, turn off your brain and settle down with some good old Australian Laughs! I recommend it mate!

If you ever want to see an example of a film that shoots itself in the foot as it comes to its conclusion, this is it. The set-up is quite funny, but the last 25 minutes (and the guys ultimate solution to fixing their dilemma) is so uninspired and idiotic that you'll be shaking your head is disbelief. The opening is terrific, Vince Colosimo and Stephen Curry are both good sports, and they share a great rapport. Rose Byrne is charismatic and gorgeous as ever, but she's given such a nothing role and all but disappears in the second half. There's a clever opening scenes about the origins of take away shops and a few good gags here and there (Curry's expressions are always good for a laugh), but again, the sheer idiocy of the ending ruins all that comes before it. Not helping matters is the similarities in story to The Castle, and a few gags that don't quite work. Co-writer (and very funny stand-up comedian) Dave O'Neill deserves some credit for coming up with some great gags, but there's not much here to sink your teeth into.

I expected a lot walking into 'take away'. With it's 'Castle-like' plot-line and starring two great comedic actors (Vince Colosimo and Steven Curry), this film barely broke mediocre at the best of times.However it got worse, as i was watching the film i was praying for a decent ending.. My prayers were not answered however, i left the cinema hoping they'd seen the movie and felt guilty enough to refund the price of admission.* out of *****

Alright, so not every Australian movie is all that good. Yes, maybe there have actually been very few with much merit. Take Away however is an absolute bomb, qualifying as one of the worst movies I've ever seen. I wanted to like it. I figured I'd give it a fair go. I've even met one of the screen writers Dave O'neil so I feel kind of a traitor giving this movie a bad review, but... The plot is fairly thin (I won't bother relating it... read the synopsis), which I can forgive: there are plenty of movies that can cover that up with a few decent jokes. Unfortunately, Take Away's jokes cover its plot up like a $2 prostitute's skirt. Probably the only laughs that came from the 6 other people in the cinema was at the poor acting and dialogue. Take Away goes down like a week old Dim sim ... You might understand that joke if you see the film but the joke's not worth it.