Ben Oliver

Now
Banner image for The Call
film

The Call

You’re an operator. You can’t do this!
27 January 2015

A 911 operator (Halle Berry) gets a call from a girl being kidnapped (Abigail Breslin).

The first hour or so is a well executed high concept drama. Breslin is stuck in the boot of a car being driven away, talking on the phone to Berry. I like the ingenuity shown from both characters, and for the most part it’s gripping stuff. The script is clever enough not to leave too many frustrating “why didn’t she do that?!?” moments.

However, the final third of the film takes a nose-dive into some sort of weird pseudo horror movie scene. Berry decides to leave her post to go find the killer on her own, a decision that makes no sense at all and sadly kills the film off completely.

It’s a shame to see two good performances go to waste, plus that’s yet another good set-up flushed down the toilet (ok this one does hold up for an hour, but I swear this is a trend). Clearly pitches to Hollywood big wigs don’t involve endings.

I’m not saying this was going to be a classic, but The Call could have easily landed in the ‘thoroughly enjoyable’ and ‘easy to recommend’ buckets. Sadly it wasn’t to be and instead it resides in the ‘a bit crap’ rack along with so many of its kind.