Take Care
Dustin Chase
For her directorial debut, Liz Tuccillo (writer on Sex & the City) uses the idea of someone needing constant assistance and care while putting them in isolation and allowing the audience to watch and see what happens. There’s a little bit of genius in this script, also written by Tuccillo. Leslie Bibb (Iron Man, The Skulls), also a producer, is given a role to expand on her comical talents as an actress. From the opening shot of our main character painfully being assisted and then carried up her multiple flights of stairs, to the constant situations she finds herself in, such as begging the rude neighbor to fix her a sandwich, they reflect ironically funny instances that are painful for her but funny for us.
Her controlling older sister and best girlfriend bring Fannie (Bibb) to her apartment in New York after her horrific car accident, which left one broken leg and arm. Refusing to stay with her sister, Fannie will just depend on her friends to check in on her, which means she will be alone; “I am no one’s priority,” she comes to realize. In her desperation Fannie calls her ex-boyfriend Devon (Sadoski), who she nursed back to health when he had cancer. She guilt trips him into paying her back with care-taking since he dumped her after his recovery.
The entire film is a unique comic spin on a genre in need of fresh air.
The faces Bibb conjures up to express her pain are hilarious in their own right. The beginning of the film is full of comical examples of just how isolated this character is, resulting to squirting mayo in her mouth because she only has one hand and can’t fix any food. The interaction with the neighbor (David) was one of the highlights for me, as his character begins the concept of everyone telling the blatant truth. All the characters have a sense of honesty that’s refreshing: if someone cheats, they admit it; if they don’t want to help someone, they explain why.
The film does shift slightly from an ironic dark comedy to a romantic comedy when we see where the script is going (I did hope it wouldn’t end the way it did, but alas). Take Care constantly asks the audience (and Devon) ‘what would you do if one of your friends needed your help?’ Tuccillo keeps the comedy going with bathroom scenes, hunger and Fannie’s pure desperation; and Bibb plays it for all it’s worth. Midway through it turns into Fannie’s own private revenge on her ex, while his new girlfriend is going out of her mind (providing much of the later comic relief) because of the current situation. The entire film is a unique comic spin on a genre in need of fresh air.
Final Thought
Bibb finally gets a leading role to display her comic genius.