“RAIN, A BIKE, WALK-UPS, AND THE DELIVERY GUY”

By Raymond Benson

The filmmaker Sean Baker, who most recently gave us (along with co-producer Shih-Ching Tsou) such striking independent features as The Florida Project (2017) and Red Rocket (2021), began his career modestly with extremely low-budget indie pictures that take on a cinema verité style (a type of documentary-like filmmaking that is improvisational and attempts to capture “reality” in all of its harsh and spontaneous truths). Baker co-directed with Tsou his second feature film, released in 2004, Take Out, which is a slice of life tale that takes place within the twelve hours of a single day.

Ming Ding (Charles Jang) is an undocumented Chinese immigrant living in New York City’s Chinatown. He had come to America in search of a better way of life, leaving his wife and son in China until a later date when he could afford to bring them over legally. Unfortunately, he owes a great deal of money to an unscrupulous loan shark, whose muscle men show up at Ming’s apartment of squalor (where several immigrants also live) and demand that a payment of $800 be made by the end of the day or else Ming’s balance owed will be doubled. They strike Ming in the back with a hammer to emphasize their seriousness. Ming already has $500—his entire savings—so he must find $300 over the next several hours. Ming works as a delivery boy for a take out Chinese restaurant on the Upper West Side. One of his co-workers, Young (Jeng-Hua Yu), gives him $150. Thus begins a frantic, and tension-filled race against the clock for Ming to deliver enough orders to customers in an attempt to make $150 more in tips. Seeing that many customers barely tip anything at all, the task is definitely a challenge.

Compounding the situation is that Mother Nature has decided that this would be a day in which torrential rain must plummet New York all day long. So poor Ming must ride his bicycle in the downpour back and forth from the restaurant to customers’ residences. Sometimes the elevator in high-rise buildings is out of order. Many times he must trek up the stairs to walk-up apartments. Customers run the gamut—some are nice and friendly; more are cranky or racist or cheapskates or all of the above- and, this being New York City, Ming must also be wary of criminals who might target him for the money he’s carrying.

This is a riveting piece of cinema that is not only suspenseful but also quite revealing. Those of us who have ordered take out Chinese food in the big city perhaps do not appreciate what a difficult job it is for the delivery guy. It is hard, thankless work. We also get to see how a storefront Chinese take-out place (not a sit-down restaurant) works behind the scenes. The manager and counter person, Big Sister (Wang-Thye Lee), is the conduit between the kitchen and the public. She speaks English perhaps better than any of the other employees, but she’s not beyond throwing insults to or cursing out rude customers in Mandarin that the recipients don’t understand.

Shih-Ching Tsou, who has collaborated with Baker as a producer on his subsequent pictures, was instrumental in bringing Take Out to life. She not only co-produced the movie, but also co-wrote and co-directed it with Baker, who cannot speak Mandarin or Cantonese. The script was written in English, but Tsou translated it into Chinese for the actors, who were, for the most part, amateurs. Baker did all of the striking camerawork himself along with the editing. Take Out is truly a “homemade” production.

The acting is remarkably potent. Charles Jang as Ming doesn’t say much in the movie, but his inner turmoil and frustrations are clearly evident in his charismatic demeanor and stoic facial expressions. He rarely reveals his pain, but we know what he’s feeling. Of special note is Wang-Thye Lee as Big Sister, who is in many ways the beating heart of the film. She is a pleasure to watch in action.

The Criterion Collection’s Blu-ray release presents a new 4K digital restoration, supervised and approved by Baker and Tsou. It has an uncompressed stereo soundtrack and comes with an audio commentary by Baker, Tsou, and Jang. There are new English subtitles, as well as English captioning for the hearing impaired. Supplements include a fascinating new documentary on the film featuring interviews with Baker, Tsou, Jang, Lee, and Yu; a vintage documentary on the making of the film; deleted scenes; Jang’s screen test; and the theatrical trailer. The booklet comes with an essay by filmmaker and author J. J. Murphy.

Take Out is for fans of Sean Baker’s work, New York City locales, and independent filmmaking with a bite. Highly recommended.

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