The Call
Not necessarily a must-see in the theater, but definitely a solid rental for those looking for a solid thriller.
The Callstars Halle Berry as Jordan , a vet operator at a California 911 call centre . Always tranquil , garner and smart in her interactions with " PR ’s " ( soul reporting ) , Jordan ’s mankind is rocked when she takes the tragical call of a young girlfriend who is being nobble by a sadistic cause of death .
After that ordeal , Jordan takes a more " hands - off " role instruct incoming operators . However , circumstances is not done with her yet , it seems , as she receive a panicked call from a different immature girl mention Casey ( Abigail Breslin ) , who has been abducted by a gentleman who meet the same M.O. of the predator that scarred Jordan ’s living .
The Callis a B - movie thriller that ’s as formulaic and cliched as they come , but thanks to conductor Brad Anderson ( The Machinist ) and a truly frightening scoundrel effectively portrayed by Michael Eklund , the film oversee to actually deliver good thrill for most of its runtime .
With furor - hit horror filmSession 9,Anderson proved he could create tension and dread with the most limited of resource ; in this film , he applies that practical skill for scaffolding , sequencing and viewpoint to a much heavy scale - and to much greater force . Overall , the film is well - constructed and tightly paced for two - thirds of the way ( we ’ll talk about the terminal 1/3 later ) with some nice repugnance - movie image thrown in for in force meter . While mostly set in two various single - setting ( a call center and a moving car ) , there is enough sense of movement ( via interaction between our victim and the farsighted branch of saving / reply force ) that the pulse of the film is alive and steady , and things avoid getting bogged down .
While the advance of the story is emphatically predictable and overly conversant , Anderson and screenplay author Richard D’Ovidio ( Thir13en Ghosts , Exit Wounds ) come up with enough ways to stage each episodic rescue attack and close - save with an exciting and visceral preciseness that is hard not to react to . In many room , The Callqualifies as pretty good horror - thriller amusement .
Alas , even at a lean 90 second the picture is about 1/3 too long , with a climatical section that pretty much rise the shark by trying ( unsuccessfully ) to stage a nightmarish final showdown . From concept to capital punishment to glaring holes in logic , the last twenty minutes or so of this plastic film ritual killing whatever dear put up the preceding hr earned . This is not to note the common handful of obvious plot contrivances , system of logic holes and farfetched conjunction that follow with this style of pic -beforethat end section unravels things on the whole .
In fact , if not for the operation of Michael Eklund , the final portion ofThe Callwould be a full miss - an assessment that can moderately much be applied to the film as a whole . The tale takes a surprising amount of care build its villain , " Michael Foster , " into a psychotic with a well - round out psychosis ; meanwhile , Eklund goes hard in his execution like he ’s aboveboard trying to match the level of classical movie serial slayer like Ted Levine ’s Buffalo Bill ( Silence of the Lambs ) or Anthony Perkins ' Norman Bates ( Psycho ) . Though it ’s a hurt to the moving picture , the last third ofThe Callwill plausibly earn Eklund many more jobs as a in earnest convincing madman . A warm villain is always an ace calling card - and is pretty much the only oneThe Callhas up its sleeve .
Halle Berry is about the best face you could require for when casting a character who is mostly going to be seen from the cervix up most of the time . While her spectacular chops are solid enough to transmit the sense of apprehensiveness and panic the audience is supposed to take over , her character - with her oddball mode tweak , shaggy-haired hairdo and earmark Berry disappearing / reappearing accent - is not nearly as strong . By the prison term the climatic confrontation is set , it ’s toilsome to relate with Jordan and her choices , as the motion-picture show ’s system of logic ( and subsequently the character ’s ) spins right off the rails .
Abigail Breslin ( petty Miss Sunshineherself ) has definitely maturate up ; however , like Halle , the gifted young actress is handed an undercooked character to dally . Most of the job involves keep a richly - pitched level of hysteria , punctuated by belittled instances of sensitivity and cleverness … only to sneak back into overly striking hysteria . In the final enactment Casey , too , go right off the rails of logical system , resulting in character growing that is clearly at odds with everything that forego it .
Abigail Breslin in ‘The Call’
Other supporting quality act by Morris Chestnut , Roma Maffia ( Grey ’s Anatomy ) , Denise Dowse ( Criminal Minds ) and Michael Imperioli ( The Sopranos ) are mostly just window dressing - with only Chestnut being handed opportunity to round out his adept cop / love life interest arc a bit . As windowpane dressing goes , though , Berry and Co. could do much bad for support .
In the end , The Callis a commixture of good and spoiled elements that still manages to accomplish the master task : pitch effective thrills . It would have been an impressive short ( at about 60 mins ) - but in proceed for one last cock-a-hoop payoff , it wangle to grossly outstay its welcome . Still , frightening scenes and unrelenting ferocity in the final division will be enough " thrill " for some people - and while riddled with hole , the flick does leave a level of evacuant payoff by its abrupt finale .
Not needfully a must - see in the theater , but definitely a solid letting for those attend for a solid thriller . AnsweringThe Callwon’t be a full waste matter of your time .
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The Callis now playing in theaters . It is 90 minutes retentive and is scab gas constant for furiousness , disturb subject and some language .
Morris Chestnut in ‘The Call’
The Call is a thriller directed by Brad Anderson , starring Halle Berry as a seasoned 911 operator . When she meet a call from a kidnapped teenager , played by Abigail Breslin , she takes it upon herself to control the young lady ’s safe replication . The nail-biting plot line highlights the intense duty and spry decision - making required in emergency reply site .
