The Call(2013) Film Review

 

 

Rated R For Violence, Disturbing Content And Some Language

1hr 34min/94min

6 uses of the F-word



The Call is the new Thriller from Brad Anderson, Who directed The Machinist, and stars Halle Berry and Abigail Breslin. Watching the trailer for the film, I was expecting a typical but entertaining thriller film, about a 911 operator. What I got Instead was the most nerve-wracking, Intense film I have ever seen. The trailer for this movie does not do it the least bit of justice, you have to go see this film for yourself. The film features great performances, an original story and a break-neck, intense pace that I have not seen in a film yet. The film was so intense that I was shaking 30 minutes after I left the film, it is that good.

Jordan Turner(Halle Berry) is a 911 operator, who is having a normal day at work. A call comes in from a 17-year-old girl who is calling of a man who is intruding on her home. Jordan devises a plan to have the girl open the window and hide under the bed to trick the killer into thinking she has left. The plan works but as he is about to leave, the phone disconnects. Jordan makes the mistake of re-dialing. The man hears the phone and finds the girl upstairs. The next morning, the girl is found dead in a ditch in the middle of a field.



Six Months Later, Jordan has now quit as a dispatcher and is now training new recruits. A call comes in of a 17 year old girl named Casey Welson(Abigail Breslin) who has been kidnapped and put in the trunk of a car. Jordan takes the call and speaks with Casey to calm her down. However when Jordan Hears the voice of the killer, she realizes thta it is the same voice of the man who killed the other girl six months earlier. Jordan decides that she should take matters into her own hands before the man kills Casey.

The characters are very well developed  in the film, but what brings these characters tto life are the performers. Halle Berry is the perfect choice to play Jordan. Berry brings to life the character who is going through a rough patch, and is still tormented by that horrific call six months earlier. Halle Berry is so good that when I was watching her on-screen, I didn't see Halle Berry, I saw The character of Jordan Turner who has been haunted and quit her job du to it. I will admit, I was skeptical of Abigail Breslin, but she was also very good. Her first scene is with her and her friend at a mall and the dialouge between them is what you would hear between to teen girls. When she is abducted I realy felt like she was being kidnapped. The killer who is portrayed by Michael Eklund is truly frightening as this mentally disturbed, monsterous being. Why he is doing this, I can't say because it reveals the ending.

The story is very original. I thought this was going to be a generic and cliched thriller, but I never expected a film this original. The film mopves a very brek-neck speed. This film made me jump many times and made me tense up. I was still shaking 30 minutes after the film was over and I had left the theater. If a film can get me to do that, than that means that it earns a spot on my best of the year list. This is a film that everyone should see, however if you are easily distrurbed than this film is not for you. This does have an intense and disturbing tone. But hey, if you love movies like that, than this is for you. Judging by the box office totals, everyone is loving it.