The Call

There seems to be a shortage of good, suspenseful thriller films in today's industry. When I use the word, “thriller,” I'm talking about films with a general sense of real, gut-wrenching anxiety to them. My go-to example of the kind of moving I'm talking about would be Running Scared. It's definitely one of my favorite movies of all time, precisely because of its pacing and ability to keep the viewer on the edge of his/her seat. However, this is not a love-letter to Running Scared. No, I can do that on my own time. The Call is a modern thriller that had a lot of potential. It delivers in a lot of ways, too. The question is this: can it carry the torch as the next great thriller of this generation?

The short answer would be 'no.' The film is about Jordan Turner(Halle Barry), a 911 operator whose error during a call costs one caller her life. After the tragic events of the beginning of the film, we flash forward a few years where Jordan now trains future 911 operators instead of taking calls herself. The film does a lot right in characterizing our main protagonist .Jordan Turner is held together by medication and hope that one day she may be able to redeem herself for her past mistake. Much of this movie is about her growth and journey for redemption. From the moment she takes over a fellow operator's call and begins helping Casey Welson(Abigail Breslin), the movie's pacing is quite fast. 

(The Afro was my favorite character in the movie)

Abigail turns in a fairly good performance as the kidnapping victim. She acts appropriately panicked and terrified given her situation, but she is far from helpless. With the aid of Turner, she executes a few clever plans to try and take charge of her situation. It is refreshing to see a main cast comprised almost entirely of women. What's more is that these women are not victims despite being thrown into situations they cannot control. While many of the attempts at escape fail, the fact that one of the attempts occurred independently of any coaxing from Jordan is a sign of good characterization for Casey.

The main antagonist is serviceable. He has some genuinely terrifying moments in the third act, as well as some slightly compelling moments in the second act. The problem with this guy is that he just isn't interesting enough on his own. He is at his most terrifying when we know absolutely nothing about him. When we barely see his face, when he's drowning out the screams of his victim with music, even the slight taps on the steering wheel that indcate his jovial mood are actually better than some of the work he turns in later in the movie. This isn't to say that his acting is absolutely awful . If anything, the best word to describe the performance is...generic.

(Awww...don't cry, big guy. I'm sure someone is scared of you.)

With all of this being said, The Call is not a bad movie. The suspense is paced well, the solutions to problems and plot twists are handled decently. During the film I was actually feeling myself becoming invested in the events that took place. This movie had the potential to be a truly great thriller. The problem? The third act. Man, this thing is the absolute worst. If the movie had ended abruptly and before any of this last act had happened, it would have been drastically improved. In fact, a cliff-hanger, no-answers ending would have added to the suspense. Instead, what we get is something derivative of every psycho killer film you've seen. The ending plays out more or less about what you would expect, except that it is nonsensical and absolutely forgettable. It's almost as if they hired a completely different writer for the last half of the movie.

It's actually very disappointing. The movie begins and continues on such a promising start. It has solid, compelling characters. The main protagonist is likeable and has a solid story backing her. Even the surprises (with one exception) were done exceptionally well. All of the effort goes right down the drain at the very end.

Such a shame.

2.5 out of 5.