This looks at the crime thriller Takers, with an all star cast starring Paul Walker (The Fast and the Furious) as John Rahway, the stalwart Idris Elba (Rock N Rolla) as Gordon Cozier, Michael Ealy (The Good Wife) as Jake Attica, Hayden Christiansen (Star Wars: The Phantom Menace) as A.J., Matt Dillion (Traffic) as Jack Welles, and an impressive performance by Chris Brown as Jesse Attica.
We join the movie as our protagonists are undergoing a bank robbery, that goes as smooth as they planned, leaving no trace as to their identities or who could have done the job, and they even have the courtesy to wave at the security camera (masked of course) and offer a signature salute. It is left to two cops Jack Welles and Eddie Hatcher played by Jay Hernandez (The Rookie) to figure out who carried out the robbery, with basically nothing else to go on except the heights of the culprits, and their gestures to the camera.
This is slightly different from other crime related movies, as with any good movie we feel empathy for the characters, as we get to know a little bit about their personal struggles, especially for Cozier, as he tries to look after his sister Naomi played by Marianne Jean-Baptiste (28 Days), fresh from rehab; amidst the job they are planning, a job that they unexpectedly have been asked to do, by one of their associates, no one in the group quite trusts, Dalonte Rivers, played very convincingly by T.I., who tells them of an opportunity he learnt of while in jail, with several millions to them to obtain, if it goes smoothly.
It turns out that the reason none in the group trusts Rivers, is five years ago he was caught and the time he has just spent in prison was as a direct result of the joint job he had with them, Rhaway assures him his takings from that job are in a savings account, and still good for collection, which Crozier and the others reckon, this is the only reason why he did not give them up.
We also get to see a little bit of the problems faced by the police force as they deal with some of the criminals, Welles as he tries to make time for his daughter, and deal with the case at hand, while Hatcher tries to explain to Welles his priorities are a little squinted.
Love interest for Jake is provided by the lovely Joe Saldana (forever in our minds as Neferti from Avatar) playing Lilly, this proves a little contested issue, as she was Dalonte’s love interest before he went to prison, and has his sights on taking her back. There is a scene where Jake and Dalonte have a little confrontation in front of Lilly as Dalonte tries to reassert that she still has feelings for him in front of Lilly.