MOVIE OF THE WEEK #2 (3/15/13): THE CALL
.JPG)
"Sing 'Super Freak' one more time ... I DARE you!" Michael Foster (Michael Eklund) gets up close and personal with the captive Casey Weldon (Abigail Breslin) THE CALL. Credit: Greg Gayne © 2013 SPWAG. All Rights Reserved.
KEY CAST MEMBERS: Halle Berry, Abigail Breslin, Morris Chestnut, Michael Eklund, Michael Imperioli, David Otunga and Evie Thompson
WRITER(S): Richard D'Ovidio (screenplay); Richard D'Ovidio, Nicole D'Ovidio and Jon Bokenkamp (story)
DIRECTOR: Brad Anderson
WEB SITE: www.call-movie.com/
THE PLOT: Arguably the first major film (given its widespread release and cast's acting resume) from WWE Studios (yes, the sports entertainment people), The Call stars Halle Berry as Jordan Turner, a veteran L.A. 911 dispatcher. On the surface, Jordan appears to be okay, enjoying life with her cop boyfriend (Morris Chestnut), who, along with his partner (WWE Superstar David Otunga a.k.a. Mr. Jennifer Hudson) always seem to be around the dispatch center ... But inside, she is being eaten alive by the haunting memory of Leah Templeton (Evie Thompson), a girl she couldn't save after making a mistake that by all counts costs Leah her life.
Six months after the Leah tragedy, Jordan finds herself thrust back into action when a dispatcher can't handle a call coming in from the utterly distressed Casey Welson (Little Miss Sunshine herself Abigail Breslin). You see, Casey has been abducted from a mall parking lot by a mysterious man (Michael Ecklund) who has thrown her in a trunk and now plans to ... Let's just say it's not good. With time running short, Jordan does her best to help keep Casey calm and help her fight back against her attacker before he can execute (pun intended) his awful plans for her.
Whether or not Jordan can make this call turn out better than her last one, however, remains to be seen ...
Six months after the Leah tragedy, Jordan finds herself thrust back into action when a dispatcher can't handle a call coming in from the utterly distressed Casey Welson (Little Miss Sunshine herself Abigail Breslin). You see, Casey has been abducted from a mall parking lot by a mysterious man (Michael Ecklund) who has thrown her in a trunk and now plans to ... Let's just say it's not good. With time running short, Jordan does her best to help keep Casey calm and help her fight back against her attacker before he can execute (pun intended) his awful plans for her.
Whether or not Jordan can make this call turn out better than her last one, however, remains to be seen ...
THE TAKE: Ever watch a movie that starts off pretty decently - I mean, you know it's not going to be a classic or anything - but it begins better than you expected ... Only for it to eventually veer too far off the proverbial rails? Remember 70s and 80s B-movies that had their own cult followings, much like certain movies in recent memory (Half Baked or Pootie Tang, anyone?) that were far from big hits but were really enjoyable to those who liked them and really not to those who didn't? Then again, some films - like most of Nicolas Cage's recent work like Drive Angry (in 3D no less!) are so bad they almost touch on genius?
If you can't tell where I'm going with this, let me make it perfectly clear for you: The Call is a movie that starts off pretty decently with a solid premise before venturing off into a revenge/justice tale complete with wacky (male) characters, logic thrown out the window, more than its fair share of foreshadowing and an ending - complete with catchphrase - that is perfect for justifying this short but classic moment from Scrubs.
Maybe it's her struggles with love ... Maybe it's her love of playing superheroes (except for Catwoman - yup, I STILL haven't gotten over how terrible that was) ... Or just the fact that after winning an Oscar, she decided to do whatever she wants, but Berry LOVES to play heroic women. And there's no problem with that. The problem, however, is that she doesn't really seem to care how good the movie AROUND the strong woman is. Likewise, Berry's character in the film has some bad logic that despite being necessary to the story still comes off as flawed in a major way. Then again, who ever needed plausibility to make a thriller work.
Berry, however, has zero control over Ecklund's performance, in which he seems to be going for the ultimate psychotic man once his cover his blown. Unfortunately, it becomes far too comical for its own good - even longstanding WWE Superstar Kane (I'm burning way too many bridges with this review!) isn't as wacky as Ecklund is and he's been doing this for the last few months. Unfortunately, Breslin isn't really given too much to do in the film except [1] be really, really blonde [2] scream and [3] get abused. (She also does a great, albeit quick, homage to Michael Myers in one scene - look for it!)
The Call is a great movie to watch with his friends or a date not for its content, but for the conversations you're going to have afterwards dissecting and/or making fun of the film itself later. And that might be the highest compliment I can pay a movie that features a cast member on a highly successful TV show dying not once, but twice, in one of the all-time "oh hell naw!" moments in recent memory.
If you can't tell where I'm going with this, let me make it perfectly clear for you: The Call is a movie that starts off pretty decently with a solid premise before venturing off into a revenge/justice tale complete with wacky (male) characters, logic thrown out the window, more than its fair share of foreshadowing and an ending - complete with catchphrase - that is perfect for justifying this short but classic moment from Scrubs.
Maybe it's her struggles with love ... Maybe it's her love of playing superheroes (except for Catwoman - yup, I STILL haven't gotten over how terrible that was) ... Or just the fact that after winning an Oscar, she decided to do whatever she wants, but Berry LOVES to play heroic women. And there's no problem with that. The problem, however, is that she doesn't really seem to care how good the movie AROUND the strong woman is. Likewise, Berry's character in the film has some bad logic that despite being necessary to the story still comes off as flawed in a major way. Then again, who ever needed plausibility to make a thriller work.
Berry, however, has zero control over Ecklund's performance, in which he seems to be going for the ultimate psychotic man once his cover his blown. Unfortunately, it becomes far too comical for its own good - even longstanding WWE Superstar Kane (I'm burning way too many bridges with this review!) isn't as wacky as Ecklund is and he's been doing this for the last few months. Unfortunately, Breslin isn't really given too much to do in the film except [1] be really, really blonde [2] scream and [3] get abused. (She also does a great, albeit quick, homage to Michael Myers in one scene - look for it!)
The Call is a great movie to watch with his friends or a date not for its content, but for the conversations you're going to have afterwards dissecting and/or making fun of the film itself later. And that might be the highest compliment I can pay a movie that features a cast member on a highly successful TV show dying not once, but twice, in one of the all-time "oh hell naw!" moments in recent memory.
PARTING SHOT: A movie that is so over-the-top it ultimately uses ridiculousness to its advantage, The Call is one of those "so-cheesy-it's-good" movies that might win fans for reasons the film's producers never intended.
RATING (OUT OF FOUR BUCKETS OF POPCORN):
Comments
Post a Comment