Frankly,
in today’s neurotic world, the concept behind Ray Moody’s Kidnap Solutions, LLC
has commercial potential. His simulated kidnappings offer aversion therapy (in
the tradition of the Tales from the
Darkside episode, “Bigalow’s Last Smoke”) and fetishistic escapism. He just
isn’t the right person to realize its potential. Anna St. Blair would be the
perfect client to spread word-of-mouth, but it is unclear whether she really is
a willing customer. The kidnapper and kidnappee may have been set-up in Pat
Healy’s Take Me (trailer here), which screens
during the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival.
There
was a time when Kidnap Solutions was growing in leaps and bounds. Sadly, when
Moody’s ex-wife walked out on him, she left him holding the bag for a
kidnapping that went awry. Personally and professionally, he still has not
recovered from her betrayal. However, the lucrative gig St. Blair is offering
will give him a bit of the seed capital he has been seeking. The only catch is
her request for more rough stuff than he is ordinarily comfortable with.
When
the abduction starts, St. Blair seems genuinely terrified. When she is
subsequently reported missing, Moody realizes he might be in serious legal
trouble. Rather awkwardly, St. Blair does not seem inclined to forgive and
forget, so he will have to hold onto her until he can convince her to see
reason.
As
lead actor and debut director, Healy has crafted a spritely farce seasoned with
tar-black humor. This is a comedy that draws blood (all of it his own).
Arguably, he is his own best asset, playing Moody as a likably nebbish striver
in the tradition of Willy Loman (wearing a balaclava). Even when we laugh at
his humiliation, we sort of want to see him overcome. As the second half of the
more-or-less two-hander, Taylor Schilling is a smart, forceful, and altogether
worthy foil.
