There was never any reason to go into the movie “Taking 5” expecting anything other than a tweener-centric comedy with laughs on par with your average Nickelodeon sitcom, but it had one thing going for it: the inclusion of The Click Five. What can I say? I like the power pop, and those guys do it well. Plus, as a music fan, the premise of the film sounded funny enough: Devon (Alona Tal) and Gabby (Daniella Monet) desperately try to win a contest where the prize is a performance by their favorite band, 5 Leo Rise (played by The Click Five), but when things go horribly wrong, they decide to kidnap them and force them to play. I should’ve known, however, that there was something a little dodgy about this flick when I heard that the line-up of the band in the film included their original lead singer, Eric Dill, who left the band in late 2006. So why did this film sit on the shelf for so long? You’d like to think it’s because The Click Five lost some serious career momentum after Dill’s departure (and, boy, did they), but it’s more likely because the band originally come off sounding like the biggest assholes in the world. Oh, sure, eventually they come through and save the day, but why would they start the film by showing the object of the girls’ obsession acting like a bunch of complete dicks? Oh, wait, I forgot: chicks dig that. Well, in that case, maybe they’ll dig this movie more than I did.
