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What would you do if your daughter was... taken? Joa 2.0 and I are using the movie Taken as a backdrop for a gripping conversation about a parent's worst nightmare. We'll explore the themes of family, trust, and the moral lines Bryan Mills crosses to save his daughter. It's a deep dive into a film that's both a thrilling action movie and a thought-provoking look at how far you'd go for the ones you love.
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Transcript
Introduction and Podcast Overview
00:00:06
Speaker
This show is not suitable for all audiences. Listener discretion is advised.
00:00:15
Speaker
Buenos dias mi gente, welcome to Spoiler Alert, it's different now, the podcast where we lovingly ruin our childhoods by rewatching movies that definitely should have come with a warning label. I'm your host, Joe Rojas, and each episode, a friend drops by to laugh, cringe, and spiral with me through the cinematic relics of our youth.
00:00:30
Speaker
Because nostalgia is fun. Until you really pay attention.
Inspiration and Movie Choice
00:00:43
Speaker
Rated R for Reflection.
00:00:53
Speaker
I have a very special guest here with me. he is my little brother, ah my first best friend, and the second guest on this podcast. He is actually the inspiration for this show, and i wanted to make sure that we got him on nice and early. Thank you for having me.
00:01:09
Speaker
I'm grateful to be here. You picked up on it last episode. Yesterday was my birthday and my brother made it out to spend this birthday with me, a very special 37. And he actually decided on this movie last night. And he said, you know, there's so many movies that stuck out.
00:01:25
Speaker
At the end, Taken was the one he went with. And so we made time this morning to sit down as ah sibling pair and watch this movie and just take notes and take a pause to reflect on the different perspectives that we now carry when we watch the movies.
Reflections on 'Taken'
00:01:42
Speaker
So you were 18 in 2008. Tell me a little bit about what Joel was like in 2008, what you were doing in life. What was your focus? What was your passion Um, there wasn't really any much focus. I was a promoter. I lived a club life. Uh, that was a great time where it was just the social aspect of life was the most important thing to me. That's how I made my money. That's, you know, networking with people is a great thing, especially in a state that's only 50 miles long.
00:02:13
Speaker
I can say that it was more of a bachelor type lifestyle than anything else. At that point in 2008, 2009 era, um, it was more about, you know, the late nights, uh, late mornings and you know just being outside versus you know the the parenthood that I am embracing now.
00:02:34
Speaker
What were you know the meats and potatoes for you of this movie that kept you coming back as you matured? When I watched it as an 18-year-old, was more interested in how how they got the girls, you know how they they they they schemed their way to to share the taxi ride, to to get the information on what floor they were living in.
00:02:54
Speaker
the girls get taken, the father has that conversation with the guy, you know, and now in my eyes, I'm like, all right, he's going to go over there and he's going to body people, you know what I'm saying? This is about to get real. And, um...
00:03:05
Speaker
You know, that's what that's what caught my eye. That's what entertained me back then. Watching it again now, you know, the action is something that we still appreciate, but now I'm looking at as like, yeah, this dad is going to go, he's use all his skills that he's harnessed throughout all these years, and now has his job is to go get the only person he really cares about, which is his daughter.
00:03:24
Speaker
And, you know, with that angle, now it's more of a... You know, you want the hero to win. And even though we've watched, you know, this movie many of times, at least I have myself, um you still find yourself rooting because it feels like there could be that chance that he is not successful.
00:03:39
Speaker
And I think that that's the the biggest concept that's changed is now, you know, it goes from, yeah, action is great. You can get action in a many movies. But that feeling that you get when you can connect with the character, that's what makes the movie right.
00:03:51
Speaker
That's what makes the movie unforgettable.
00:03:59
Speaker
Would you like to let the audience know a little bit about your background and what it is that you're into these days?
Career and Family Evolution
00:04:03
Speaker
I work in the Department of Corrections. And that's that's what I mean when I talk about how the narrative for me changed from, oh, guns blasting and people getting kidnapped to, you know, now this father's urge and drive to go get his daughter. you know what I mean? So for me, being the profession that I'm in,
00:04:23
Speaker
I'm aware of people that have to do that to leave their family and go away. I chose to make sure that I worked the hours that I need to work to provide for them and then give every other time that I have to them. So I can relate.
00:04:38
Speaker
Times are different versus when our parents were younger. It was harder back then. i am grateful to have a partner that is with me that can also help. So yeah, being available for my family comes easier than it may for many.
00:04:53
Speaker
lot of people are single. a lot of people have jobs that do not allow them the freedom to be around their family. And i have one that does. So but and I would be a fool to follow the footsteps of all these people that I've seen, whether it's in real life or in movies.
00:05:10
Speaker
Again, in that movie, it's relative that he either was CIA, he was an assassin, he was somebody good, somebody great, you know, that harnessed great skills. And in the end, it did it end up being those same skills that he had to go away to provide for his family that ended up allowing him to save his daughter.
00:05:32
Speaker
The movie starts with Liam Nielsen shopping for a karaoke machine because it's his daughter's birthday, right? She's turning 17. It's a big deal for him to be present because it appears very early on that the backstory is that he spent a lot of time working. He was in the military or some type of law enforcement type of service that took him far and away from his daughter for many years. And so he was making it a point to make sure that she got a special gift. He remembered her dream of becoming a singer.
00:06:02
Speaker
um So, you know, the opening scene is him buying this karaoke machine and heading over to his birthday party to see his daughter. ah She now lives with her mother and new stepfather, who is very affluent, very well off. And he gives her this karaoke machine.
00:06:15
Speaker
The scene is followed by the stepfather gifting Kimmy a pony. And she kind of runs off and is, you know, ecstatic to have this gift. The next scene that follows is pretty much, you know, Kimmy calling dad and saying, hey, I want to do lunch.
00:06:31
Speaker
And when he shows up to the lunch, mom is there. What scene would you say hit different this
Parenting Themes in 'Taken'
00:06:36
Speaker
time? Well, I could tell you. i could tell you. It would definitely be when he... shuts her down about the idea of going out of the country by herself and her friend.
00:06:46
Speaker
ah And then, of course, him being a dad, he still cares. He ends up surprising her the next day at the house with a cell phone and says, these are the rules that you need to abide by it and I'll let you go, which is basically checking in when she lands, checking in when she gets to the apartment and connecting him with the family so he is aware that they made it safely.
00:07:06
Speaker
And then what happens? She gets there and it does none of the rules that he set forth. So, again, that's a little humor that you get now as an adult that you tell your kids something, you give them the benefit of the doubt, you give them that leg.
00:07:19
Speaker
and at the end of the day, they're going to be kids. They're going to do whatever they want. And that's with no malintention. It's just how it is. So you're a father to two daughters. While they need your permission, do you let one of your daughters at 17 years old spend the summer in Europe without you?
00:07:38
Speaker
Negative. So, and again, there's the humor in the movie. He basically tells her, you know, I can be invisible. You can go. i just want to make sure you're safe. that something that I would do. I would say, yeah, no problem. we would I would accommodate it so that I would be in the area, in the immediate area, so that if anything were to happen, I could be able to step in.
00:07:58
Speaker
And that's the irony of that movie is that he basically gives her that option. And because she doesn't want to he doesn't want to feel like that nagging parent, like the ex-wife keeps saying he is, that he doesn't trust her to live and experience the world for herself, it goes right back to it because the things that he was trying to avoid actually happened.
00:08:18
Speaker
That's an I told you so type of moment where you never want to have. Absolutely not. But I'm thinking, right, the she's 17. At some point, your daughter turns 18. The same risk is there. How do you as a father reconcile those feelings where, you know, you you grew up in the lifestyle. You said you had, you know, you were a promoter. You spent a lot of time out in the clubs. You had a very fast lifestyle coming up.
00:08:45
Speaker
now a father to ah a young girl, well, two young ladies, how do you reconcile watching these movies and and understanding that one day this will be your little girl going off into the world? It's honestly simple. the The stones I placed down on the ground today in her life, they're going to be what she walks on in the future. So if I tell her these things, my thing is this.
00:09:08
Speaker
Tell a kid that the stove's hot. That kid might still touch that stove. So... For me, I'm a blunt person where this is what it is.
00:09:19
Speaker
You get what you get. So I only hope that through that type of upbringing, being clear with her, letting her know what this could be and what that could be and how if you see a van coming down the street, you know, you've got to be aware that that person might not be as honest as the neighbor that gives you ice cream.
00:09:37
Speaker
OK, so. I believe the communication and it of course being in the backdrop that I have, she understands that what you do something wrong. Now you get taken away from your family. They put you in a cell. You don't get to wear the clothes you don't want. You, you don't get to have your iPad. You know, there's things that she is going to learn through time that is right. And that is wrong.
00:09:58
Speaker
And, that's all I can do is guide, you know? And I believe that if you teach children the right thing and you give them that example and they see that example,
00:10:11
Speaker
you could predict yeah You could predict and prevent a lot of things that could happen to somebody who was gate-kept kept wrapped at home you know under bird's eye because, oh my God, the kid's going to fall.
00:10:22
Speaker
um Two different type of things. And i'm a i I'm a firm believer that, yes, go live, go fly, go do whatever you want to do, but it has to be within realm. If you're 17 and you're going to go to Europe, first of all, if there's no adults, that's cratch at the end of the day. And if you're not okay with...
00:10:39
Speaker
having adult supervision, then you shouldn't be going in the first place because there's already a bad animosity of why you're going because you're already being sneaky. You just gotta, again, be be very vocal. Give ideas, give advice, and understand that, yeah, you're still gonna make your own mistakes. We all did it.
00:10:55
Speaker
I did it. I was told that the stove was hot. I still touched it twice. You know, so at the end of day, I learned through my mistakes, but my mistakes don't have to be made again if I speak them.
00:11:13
Speaker
Of course, who wouldn't want to be Liam Neeson? You know I mean? Who wouldn't want to be able to possess those skills that if anybody messed with my family, you know, you would be able to rectify it. And that, you know, is the biggest thing that I see now when I watch this movie.
00:11:26
Speaker
It literally just boils down to her Right now, here I am. um I have some training. I'm not a fucking Robocop, but I can protect myself. I can protect my family. I've been given licenses and I've been given a uniform and a badge where it's like,
00:11:39
Speaker
See bad, take care of it. You know? Do good when you can, even if there's nobody watching. So... Being blessed with two girls, yeah, I'm happy. ah The movie...
00:11:51
Speaker
It's definitely relatable to the T from the beginning to the end. Again, you tell your kids, hey, give me call when you arrive. How many times did mom tell us, when you get to your friend's house, give us a call. Hey, don't leave the house after 11 o'clock, et cetera. And we did everything on the opposite end of it. And look at us here. You know, we we made it and we have experiences that we can talk about.
00:12:11
Speaker
And you don't want to take that from your kids, but you want your kids to understand that, yeah, you can go out, you can do what you got to do, but it always has to be in a mental capacity where you know that you're safe. in general, if you're from a family that is from the islands, ah Caribbean roots, Hispanic roots, specifically, you are born into a dynamic off rip where, you know, women have certain expectations and men have certain expectations.
00:12:39
Speaker
And, it's kind of projected to you in a way that from early, you are kind of aware of what your role and your stance is in life. Um, but it's not necessarily communicated to you why those things are right. So messaging is important.
00:12:52
Speaker
And I, you know, I know you to to speak to your daughters in a very open manner, and I think they completely understand your intentions and and the reasons why you say the things that you say. um but what I wanted to get at was,
00:13:08
Speaker
the moments where you as a father are watching this movie you're cringing or you're giving a side eye or you're just like, there's no fucking way.
00:13:19
Speaker
For me specifically, that moment was, i think they call him Peter. When Peter finds them at the airport. Peter. Yes. And Peter, you know, he meets them at the airport and, you know, let's share a taxi. And what are you guys doing here? and And these girls just proceeded to give him all of the information that he needed to set up this kidnapping. And, i you know, I just, I sat there baffled, right? As a mother at this point to a preteen, i was just like, I would hope that my daughter...
00:13:46
Speaker
hears the voice in the back of her head of all the times that I told her not to speak to strangers and to be aware of her surroundings and to make good decisions and, you know, to be a good person and to keep a buddy and to communicate with us when you get to places and, you know, just...
00:14:01
Speaker
All of these things that you try to prepare them for, like you said, you want to set the stones, you set a foundation and and all you can do is hope that when they are on their own, that they hear your voice and that they can follow your guidance, even in your absence.
00:14:12
Speaker
And this movie just highlighted how they completely disregarded all of that, right? Like this man even reminded them. And even after finding the map, knowing that these women, you know, that these girls were not going to just stay in Paris and that they were going to travel the whole continent,
00:14:27
Speaker
He let her go in good faith. And, you know, it just goes to show, like you said, you give the benefit of the doubt to your kids and all you can do is hope. You know, you you set them up for life, a good life where you trust that when they walk out the door, they're they're safe because you put them in a safe environment. But you're right.
00:14:42
Speaker
You know, all you can do is set those building blocks. What kind of stood out to you this time? I mean, it's just's probably one of the most intense moments. And I think I even said, like, this is like one of the best parts of the movie was when she realizes that there's somebody in the apartment. The dad tells her to relax.
00:14:58
Speaker
First thing he tells her is basically, you're going to get taken, you know, and that right there is that, oh, shit moment. The things that we weren't ever expecting to happen are not happening. And here's your dad being completely level headed and a moment of panic.
00:15:13
Speaker
that he still gives you the instructions and instructions that he gives you are so, uh, they're mandatory, you know, like these are, these are things that, to be told, listen, you're about to be taken, and you have about 10 seconds scream out everything that you can see, you know? That gives you goosebumps listening to it, because that's right there in that moment, bro, nothing else matters. You're literally watching this movie, and his daughter's about to get taken, and he's basically telling her nonchalantly, let me know what you see, ah give me all the examples you can, details, and and what happens, you know?
00:15:44
Speaker
She thinks that the guy's walked out, she gets dragged, and all you hear is, you know, all these descriptions that she comes to see, and How's that scene end?
00:15:55
Speaker
Liam basically tells the guy, you know, I have these skills. i give me Leave my daughter alone and this could be it. And the coldest line that gets dropped in that whole movie is when your guy, basically, Marco from Trapoya whatever, Marco from Trapoya drops the the coldest line when he's just like, good luck, you know? And here you go, Liam.
00:16:19
Speaker
makes his way to to to this country, you know, and he he meets them in the kitchen and he gets somebody to basically recite, you know, that word in their language and he beats everybody's ass in that kitchen. So, you know, it's it's it's karma that's coming slowly through that.
00:16:37
Speaker
It builds up through the whole movie and at the end of the day, you know, here here's this single father who basically goes up against the whole mob to get his daughter back from that whole enterprise. And he ends up being successful.
00:16:51
Speaker
Right. In the movie, it's it's, you know, Eastern Europeans that they come to a conclusion on. Like you said, Liam Nielsen, he's speaking to Marco. You know, I will look for you. I will find you. And I will kill you.
00:17:02
Speaker
And like you said, Marco follows with good luck. And that was pretty much like a challenge accepted moment in the movie. Sure. Some of the, yeah, some of the information that comes out shortly after that is important is that there's a 96 hour window, right? It's projected that there's 96 hours before Kimmy, his daughter, right? Because um one of the things that we kind of skipped over is he meets up with a a crew of friends while he's out there to visit his daughter for the birthday.
00:17:29
Speaker
And this group of friends actually worked with him alongside him overseas through many different security operations. And, you know, they don't give too much information, but what you gather is that they did some bad-ass stuff, right?
00:17:42
Speaker
Yeah, they're yeah, they're those guys in the in black, right? So, the He reaches out to his friends. He had actually recorded the conversation with Marco, sends it over to the friends to find out which language is being spoken in the background, and they find out it is Albanian. They have a human trafficking ring, and the human trafficking ring guarantees that his daughter will be put up for auction and sold into prostitution after being addicted to drugs.
00:18:12
Speaker
you know, by force will never be seen again. They will never find her. She will disappear literally off of the face of the earth and will be sold as property to the highest bidder. So, you know, it's there's there's a sense of urgency.
Character Analysis of Liam Neeson
00:18:25
Speaker
And like you said, the dad is very calm. And I definitely give testament to military service and just being in hard positions. But I think when you're with When you're dealing with your daughter, it's a little different, right? Like, what ah what do you think was allowed this father to hold it together It was the training. I mean, again, if it's no matter what branch you are, um' and you know not to negate anything, military, hands down, difficult. I was also left stunned on wondering how he was doing all of this, right?
00:18:56
Speaker
This guy, he finds the the girl's friend in the warehouse, right? He goes, and like you said, he goes to the the mob's house. He's in their house. He figures out who's who. He ends up torturing Marco, who wished him good luck. right He tortures him to get the information as to where she's being held.
00:19:13
Speaker
He shows up over there. He finds the best friend that she originally left to Paris with. And then he gets her to a hotel room. You can see he has pulls because he talks to the reception. He says the usual. He gets this room.
00:19:26
Speaker
But then when he's there, he has IV drips and he has needles and he has all these things to get her to kind of wake up. And I kind of missed that at first. But then he shows up to the private party and homeboy has a police badge.
00:19:38
Speaker
And I'm like, but man, this guy's really resourceful put up for for being on a whole nother continent, and a whole nother city and not really having the connections that he once had. He's he's got it all together. So those were some things in the movie that stuck out to me that was kind of like watching it back now.
00:19:54
Speaker
I see some beats that were skipped, right? Where was like, I feel like in 2025, they would have kind of changed the way that they did some of those things. Yeah.
00:20:05
Speaker
And again, it's it's obviously always going to be movie magic. just like Just like Michael Myers, he don't run, but he always gets there before you, you know? um It's just, it has to fit the story. So, I mean, just touch base on a couple of things that you stated, you know,
00:20:19
Speaker
he definitely is a CIA or something. He definitely has those contacts still for when he used to do those jobs with his boys. You know what I mean? They say security, but them dudes were hitters. They would definitely like special ops. They definitely had, you know, outside. It's a Liam Neeson movie. That guy is basically, you have to basically understand that.
00:20:35
Speaker
So I had to know that. Yeah, because at the end of the day, that, that, there's not many movies that he's in that he is not that guy, you know what where he's the one that you mess with him, he's going to take care of you and all your teammates, you know what i mean? So, when you watch a Liam Neeson movie, you know, again, Star Wars, that that's Obi-Wan Kenobi, you know what I mean? that dude That dude, if I'm not mistaken, that's, you know, he's one of those guys where he was one of those, the elders, you know what I mean? Like, he's Yoda's boy, know mean? So...
00:21:03
Speaker
I think it was Han I don't know. He's one of the two. He was basically in Star Wars. So you got to understand that. We're talking about somebody who's been a hitter, who's always been able to, you know, do some great shit. But to tie in this movie...
00:21:17
Speaker
you get to just, and again, they don't say it, but you being in the military and, you know, that that should have caught your eye right there when he saw, you know, when his, it was a team of three or four and they're like, yeah, we we we need to do this job. And he's like, I quit that life so I can be with my kid.
00:21:30
Speaker
know what I mean? I want to be around more now because he felt that he was an absent father, you know, at the end of the day. So, So to surmise that that that, that badge that he showed, he stole that from the cop dude that obviously was double-sided.
00:21:44
Speaker
That cop dude worked for the mafia, and he basically told Liam, and that's how I knew he was dirty when he told him, don't make a mess, because clearly he was going to have to defend the mess that Liam makes, because they know that that's his friend.
00:21:56
Speaker
so right So, you know, yes movie magic, it definitely annoys everybody, especially if you can, course, you know, you can comprehend that something's a little off in the movie. that How did he get from there to there? Okay, the stepfather gave him a jet because he knows that he hasn't dirty. Yeah, knew that. But man, this guy was running, jumping. He was whooping ass. He was stealing cars. Like, yeah you every yo, he threw himself through a glass pane at one point. was just like, yo, this is crazy because he's not winded.
00:22:23
Speaker
He's not tired. like I was just like, yo, I feel like Jackie Chan even got tired. So yeah, movie magic, I understand it. But you know, watching it now at this big age, I was just like, perete, like he hasn't even taken a breath yet. This guy is just, he's a badass and I get it.
00:22:40
Speaker
But see, that's how that's how you know, though. Once we we've adapted to life, we we're more aware of what goes on. We're more aware of the dangers that are out there. When we watch these type of movies, now it's the aha moment where, like yeah, that don't make sense. you know that that doesn't make That doesn't sound right. This couldn't possibly happen. But the movie magic is what ties the movie in, and it makes it possible for us to be entertained for the hour and a half, two hours, whatever the time frame is, you know?
Unseen Efforts and Parenting Challenges
00:23:05
Speaker
He is the father's father, right? He's the guy that is going to go out there and do everything that he has to do and a go above and beyond because he just cannot live with the idea that he did not get his daughter back, right? That's that's kind of full stop with the messages in the movie, and and we see that unfold.
00:23:22
Speaker
And it also has a secret hidden message that is, again, very obvious now is the fact that the stepfather got all this money. He could buy her a horse, but he couldn't do much when it came to getting her out of real danger.
00:23:34
Speaker
money can't buy everything. Yes, money was able to get him on a jet to get to Paris right away, but he didn't in his connections and his money weren't able to do much else after that. And what kind of stuck out to me at the end of the movie, which was a little surprising that they ended it this way, was that when Liam Nielsen brings Kimmy back, he gives, he doesn't give her, right? But like she goes right back to mom and stepdad.
00:23:58
Speaker
And life kind of just goes on. And I i just thought that was interesting. Don't get me wrong. There's definitely many step parents that are great. You know, they feel the role better than what their biological person would have been. you know i mean?
00:24:10
Speaker
But in this movie, in this scenario, i love just the fact that they show that because all of this man's efforts, everything he did, just like in real life, whether you're a male or a female, if you're that breadwinner, if you're the one that's holding your house up, if you're the one that is that person for that family, for that little human...
00:24:32
Speaker
All your efforts go unnoticed. And I see it because I feel like i have a great partner, but I do all I can to make sure that my great partner feels like she's a great partner, if that makes sense. yeah You know, I take a lot off of her shoulders, put them on mine because I can hold them. So when this movie, I see that that happens and dad, at the end of the day, how many times have you buy your kid a gift?
00:24:54
Speaker
but They don't know that you worked overtime 30 hours to buy that gift. but They take that gift and they hop on it or they go play it and then they don't talk to you for four weeks. You know what mean? So at the of the day, I think it's a stern realization that, yeah, OK, Kimmy's back.
00:25:08
Speaker
She runs to mom, slapping the face to dad. But dad don't care because dad just wanted his little girl back. And the efforts that dad did to make that happen is basically like a walk in the park for him because he was going to do it anyways.
00:25:21
Speaker
That's what he does. Those are the skills. He did anything and everything he needed to do to keep his family safe and to provide. Clearly, wasn't a millionaire like stepdad, but stepdad wasn't so clean at the end of the day anyways either. So we'll leave that there.
00:25:39
Speaker
I'm thinking of in 2025, how this might've been a little different in terms of that relation with the step-parent. I feel like step-parents now, i feel like there's a little bit more, um and everybody everybody's dynamic is different, but I think now we are more aware, like you said, of the step-parents that rise up to the occasion, that step up um to take care of children that they didn't necessarily help bring into this world.
00:26:04
Speaker
And, you know, I just want to take the opportunity to kind of highlight that we see that, right? Like I'm also a step parent to my daughter, you know, at this point, she's my daughter, but that's how we entered our relationship.
00:26:16
Speaker
And it's very hard, very hard to enter some somebody's life, especially a young kid and, you know, learn from each other and learn to bond and learn to love each other and and all of those things. So i just wanted to hold space for that because it's tough, right? So if he could, if all he could do is provide a jet, then good on him.
00:26:38
Speaker
In regards to that ending, and now that we're discussing it, I want you to... Because it's a movie. At the end of the day it's a movie, right? So we talked about it. He goes out of his way. He looked he read the manual 14 times for this little recorder because his little Kimmy wanted to be a singer.
00:26:54
Speaker
Mom basically tells him that's when she was eight years old type shit. You know what I mean? So obviously that hasn't been around for a while, right? Now here's the thing. He gives her the cassette, the recorder. The pony pulls up.
00:27:07
Speaker
You know, he walks over. you doing? Cool, right? It's a movie, though. So I think that the reason they put that piece into the movie where he's bringing her and she gets that surprise is a fuck you to the, hey, stepfather, I gave her the best gift.
00:27:23
Speaker
You know what mean? And that's why I think they ended the movie on that because Liam ended up winning the best gift, which was getting her to sing because she loved that artist. You know what i mean? So... Yeah. So, I mean, you know, I watched I watched a lot of movies in my life and I've watched many of them many times.
00:27:40
Speaker
um So to hear your point of view on it and I'm like, oh, yeah, you know, that makes sense. But then you got to look at it as a movie. It's like when those end credits come on at the end of the credits. You know, I mean, a lot of people that watch Marvel movies, you know, a lot of these movies that are two or three hours long.
00:27:55
Speaker
they'll they'll put a cut scene at the end for the the real people that watch movies and it'll basically tie in something that you may have seen it you you know how many times you've seen Ice Age where you got the little squirrel that at the beginning of the movie causes the Ice Age yeah that's how it always starts and what happens at the end The movie ends, you get the cut scene at the end of the movie, and it shows the animal surviving after doing whatever it did because the movie is all about the Ice Age happening. you know i mean? So it's pretty dope. And, you know, as you know, anybody that is listening to this, you know, you you watch movies, and if you watch as many movies as I've watched, you catch all these little cues because...
00:28:31
Speaker
maybe James Cameron might do a movie like this versus, you know, you have ah Snyder who all his movies, he might end it with this type of flair. You know what mean? so with the genre that you watch or that I watch, again, I'm an action guy. I love and love horror. I love, you know, romance at times. So you kind of start learning...
00:28:50
Speaker
the whys and, oh that makes sense. Why did they do that? Okay, now I know why they did that because at the beginning of the movie, this happened. So to tie it to again to this is, you know, Dad thought in his mind, hey, great gift.
00:29:01
Speaker
He gets defeated by the pony. The lady gets kidnapped. And then at the end, Dad provides her with the best gift, which is now one-on-one sessions with the lady singer that he saves. What the fuck?
Reflections and Recommendations
00:29:13
Speaker
but So rating and rewrite. In the movie, Liam Nielsen attends his daughter's birthday party and he takes a picture of her holding her karaoke machine, a tradition that he has held every single year of her life, which is later seen in a a scene in the movie where he is looking through his photo album and he's adding that 17th birthday photo alongside every picture that came before it.
00:29:39
Speaker
So we're going to go ahead and use our rating scale of disposable cameras because this Kodak disposable camera showed up on the screen. And for me, I got warm and fuzzy because it took me back to a place where I used to buy these and walk around my high school and just take pictures of people doing...
00:29:55
Speaker
regular things, crazy things, but we were in our youth and I remember walking this to Walgreens and paying the 10 to $12 to get the prints. And I couldn't tell you where none of these prints are today, but it was a time. So having a disposable camera was kind of a rite of passage at some point in my teenhood. And so we'll go ahead and use that rating scale. So Joelle, a scale of one to five, how many disposable cameras do you give?
00:30:19
Speaker
take it. Taken to me, we'll get a solid four. It is not one of the best because I could have picked Interstellar, but you didn't let me. So plus we don't have time to go over a three hour movie. So that'll be at another time. um I will be back. I promise.
00:30:35
Speaker
But I would give it about I would give it four, four, four Kodak's. Just because, again, to this day, that movie, I sat there, I watched it, I didn't even touch my phone more than three times, and it was engaged from the beginning to the end.
00:30:47
Speaker
ah You know, you have great actors. The movie feels realistic. You feel engaged. You feel like you're there. you You could feel the emotions that the father's going through. You could see the tense moments that that he he deals with.
00:30:59
Speaker
You know, and because it's still down to earth, it still feels like it could happen to anybody. It could happen to you. You know, that still keeps that movie at high four for me. Yeah, I'd give it a four.
00:31:12
Speaker
I feel that this movie definitely set the stage. We haven't watched Taken 2, but my daughter's dying to see it. But I think, yes, in terms of storyline, in terms of the action, the scenes, the plots, the the excitement that was behind it for 2008, absolutely, I would give it a four out of five disposable cameras, Kodak style.
00:31:33
Speaker
um If we could change one thing, what would we change about the movie? I feel like the time frame from... but i feel like the time frame from when he identifies that his daughter, because she is a virgin, is not going to be thrown into the prostitution ring that she's going to be purchased by that Sheik guy, right?
00:31:55
Speaker
Remember, they find her on a yacht. So, you know, i feel like... They could have made that a little more realistic. They could have made that a little longer because it just goes from him identifying who bought her to him showing up right there. And I know that, you know, there was the auction that happened and then he basically followed that transport from the auction to, you know, to the boat. Right.
00:32:19
Speaker
you know, he's not Batman. The, the, the, the, the spectrum that they held in realism from, you know, him being able to get onto this boat undetected with all these people that are security for this man and for it to end just like that. And then, you know, cut scene from her coming out of the airport door and hugging her mother.
00:32:37
Speaker
i feel like that was a little bit of a snub to, you know, giving us such a great movie and then the timeline coming right to the end like that. Yeah. Um, And, you know, and again, it's a movie. So you got to understand that they wanted to get that out of the way so that they could give Liam his flowers at the end for coming up with the best birthday gift. So, um again, I gave it a four for Kodak.
00:32:57
Speaker
And, um you know, I definitely believe that this is a great movie that, you know, all. All of us should watch just because of all the back background hints and you know life lessons you can learn.
00:33:09
Speaker
My daughter. but She watches movies now, and when she watches them, she'll bring them up, you know? And that's what movies are for, that to give you real-life experiences without having to experience the real-life experience.
00:33:23
Speaker
And, you know, you ask me, I'd recommend that movie to anybody, whether you're young or you're old. Go watch Taken. You tied that up so well for me because i was really just sitting here like, why would it be if good why why why like why to end like this? But no, that makes sense. You're right. um Since the pony was so important in the beginning, flexing on the stepdad with the the pop star singing lessons. of the final age You're right. with that He won.
00:33:50
Speaker
He saved her and he gave her the pop star singing lessons. So he definitely won dad of the year.
00:34:05
Speaker
Rated R for Reflection.
00:34:09
Speaker
For somebody that didn't really grow up with a constant father figure that was able to show me that type of level of concern and care and responsibility and just duty, it stuck out that he was a good father, right? So if you tell me like, hey, I watched the movie Taken, be like, oh yeah, like that's the dude where he he's a good dad. went to go find his daughter that got kidnapped and he didn't accept no finance and he made sure he brought her home like a father should. That's exactly what he should have done.
00:34:35
Speaker
um But at the same time, I'm speaking of that just from just rational knowledge, right? That's just gathered knowledge that I know that's what a father's role is, not necessarily because I lived it. um So there was always appreciation of the fact that that is what a real father should be doing.
00:34:52
Speaker
um But it was also a mirror that that's not the father that I have. So, you know, at this point, i'm kind of over it. i've I've dealt, I've healed, I've gone to therapy, I've talked about it all. But, um you know, it's not lost on me. And so I think...
00:35:04
Speaker
there's meaning and there's different interpretations and perspectives when young women are, know, for me, I was a young woman. I was 20 years old when this movie came out. But for young women or young girls that are growing up without a father, that shows this level of concern, care, responsibility, and duty, um that you're not alone.
00:35:23
Speaker
I think that my brother here is an amazing father and I hope that as you've listened to this podcast and you've picked up on what is important to him that you see that in his seeps through because that's the reason why i wanted him on this podcast. I wanted him to be able to speak to his fatherhood and this new level and this new chapter of life that he finds himself in because if you know this man,
00:35:41
Speaker
you know that he was living La Vida Loca back in the day, especially when this movie came out. So it's it's such an honor to hear him kind of have this perspective and this level of maturity and just reflection in terms of what it is to be a man, what it is to be a father, what it is to have responsibility for others and, you know, how to take...
00:36:00
Speaker
the lessons in life. Not everybody has to be a military special ops agent to be able to do the right thing, right? But just having the understanding that you hold certain roles in everybody's life and and being able to to wake up and rise to that occasion every day is very important. So I appreciate all of your insight on this this episode today.
00:36:25
Speaker
Every guest on here, for me, has invaluable insight, in which is why I keep them around. There's never a dull moment. There's always amazing conversation. And I can't wait to have you on again. we will not be watching Interstellar.
00:36:39
Speaker
Interstellar was the first movie that me and my brother watched together in a very long time. It was three hours long. It was emotional for everybody in the room for many good reasons. And i would love to talk about it with you guys. But again, it's three hours long, so maybe we end the season with it. i'll have to I'll have to sit with
Closing Remarks and Future Episodes
00:36:57
Speaker
it. I'll have to sit with it.
00:36:58
Speaker
Amazing movie, though, for those of you that have not watched Interstellar, i recommend. But for this episode, Taken is the movie I hope everybody enjoyed this listen. Please come back.
00:37:11
Speaker
For all of those out there that are jumping on to listen to this episode, the episode before this, and the ones that are left to come, we appreciate your time. We understand that you could be listening to any podcast in the world, but you are here with us today.
00:37:26
Speaker
So please tune in next time for new guests, old movies, and the uncomfortable truths that we uncover along the way. Thank you so much, Joel. I hope to see you again soon. Thank you for having me, sis. I love you, bro.
00:37:37
Speaker
Love you. they