The Call Review

The Call

2.5 stars out of 4

By Brett Takeshita

The Call is a fun little thriller. If you can forgive its gigantic flaw, you'll enjoy the ride.

The Call follows Jordan (Halle Berry), an experienced 911 operator with a knack for handling stressful situations with wisdom and strength. Until one fateful day -- that day when her poor decisions during a particularly chaotic call lead to dire consequences. This shakes up Jordan and causes her to reevaluate her career. Soon, she finds that she can no longer be a 911 operator. However, she can teach the newbies how to do their jobs because she knows exactly what must be done in order to be successful. Then, a call comes in that changes everything. Casey (Abigail Breslin) is trapped in the trunk of a mad man's car. She cannot be traced because she is calling from a TracFone, and time is running out. Here is when Jordan must step up to the plate. She must save this young girl's life and make sure that justice is served before it's too late.

So, The Call isn't the most complex thriller in the world. In fact, it's pretty simple and straightforward. However, just because it's simple doesn't mean that it's dumb. This is an exciting and gripping thriller that is well executed. Director Brad Anderson keeps the film moving at a blistering pace. He understands how to propel the action forward and knows how to make the film riveting without being overwhelming. Even the procedural aspects of the film -- which could have been boring -- have a nice engaging energy about them. Anderson overcomes the hurtles of occasional poor and simplistic writing by constantly driving momentum and never loosing a sense of fun.

Kudos to the actors for really bringing their A-game for each scene. Halle Berry is excellent. Even though she's sitting at a desk and talking on the phone for much of the movie, she commands the screen. She grabs our attention and brings an intensity that is unrelenting. Abigail Breslin is terrific in a fairly difficult role. She is basically trapped in a trunk and in confined spaces for much of the movie, but she conveys terror ever so well. She screams and quivers with such realism, when it could have been so easy for her to go too over-the-top. And Michael Eklund is sensational as the crazy kidnapper. He's absolutely terrifying but still remains believable. Eklund could have easily played his role in a stereotypical fashion -- screaming, yelling, bugging eyes, and all the tics of being psychotic -- but he doesn't. He adds something more to his character, so that when we learn more about him, we find him all the more fascinating and fleshed out.

The Call starts off wonderfully. For the first two acts of the film, we are glued to the screen. We are mesmerized by the unpredictable nature of the film, and we go along with the smartly plotted action. The acts are intense and suspenseful and hit every note right. In fact, it's first two acts are nearly flawless. And then that final act kicks in...

The crazy and bizarre third act feels like it belongs in a completely different film. The Call changes from a fun thriller to a straight-up horror film. I don't wish to give too much away, but it feels like The Silence of the Lambs. Jordan ends up at a creepy location, and after much action comes the nutty reveals. These gigantic revelations are absolutely bananas. Sure, the motivation for the kidnapper's actions is very creepy and truly fascinating. However, every other aspect of this last act feels derivative and cheap. It is filled with every horror cliche in the book. And then that ending comes along, which is so stupid that you'll be staring at the credits in disbelief as to what you just watched. It's an incredibly disappointing ending for such an otherwise fine film. If The Call changed its final act into something more clever and something more akin to its first two acts, it would have been one of the best and one of the most satisfying thrillers of the year. Talk about a letdown.

Just because the final act goes a little too wacko for its own good doesn't mean that The Call is a bad film. It's actually a pretty good one. It's exciting and thrilling and surprising. It definitely gets the job done by getting your heart pumping and your blood flowing. So, my advice to those of you who haven't seen it yet but plan to: watch this movie with low expectations. Prepare yourself for a bad final act. Just go along for the ride, and I'm sure you'll be pleasantly surprised by how much fun this movie is. Two and a half stars out of four.