Jordan Turner (Halle Berry) is a 911 operator in L.A. This 911 center is called “The Hive” and the degree of technological skill displayed is reassuring. Let’s hope L.A.’s “The Hive” is the norm.
Whichever operator picks up a 911 call is random and when Jordan gets a frightened teenager sobbing there is a prowler outside her house, Jordan attempts to help the girl as the man enters the house and follows her upstairs. Jordan speaks to the prowler but is unable to save the girl’s life.
Jordan is guilt-ridden since she had promised to help the girl to safety. Returning to her job as an instructor, Jordan takes over when a new operator takes a call from a teenager, Casey (Abigail Breslin), being held in the trunk of a car.
Casey had been at the mall and abducted by a man, Richard Foster (Michael Eklund), we eventually get to know well.
Being stopped and questioned forces Foster to act impulsively. We are as shocked as Casey as things unfold.
Typically, when faced with a deranged, intestine-hurling killer, the next sacrificial victim throws the gun away deciding instead to use “harsh language”.*
As the tension builds and Foster is in his own private Crazytown, we get caught up in the thriller and his reasons. And then the movie ends absolutely satisfying because Casey is no dummy.
Breslin has the tough role of being essentially a screaming, crying victim stuck in the truck of a car. Eklund is perfect, giving Foster an it’s-all-going-wrong sweating desperation.
Berry is absolutely engaging and emotionally present. Portraying an average, working black woman in L.A., I liked her lack of overdone hair and makeup. But her hairstyle wig is distracting. But I forgive her that. Berry is coming into a very creative period and THE CALL is quite the satisfying thriller.
*From ALIENS:
Gorman: Apone! Look… we can’t have any firing in there. I, uh… I want you to collect magazines from everybody.
Hudson: Is he fuckin’ crazy?
Frost: What the hell are we supposed to use man? Harsh language?
Victoria Alexander is a member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association: www.bfca.org/ and the Las Vegas Film Critics Society: www.lvfcs.org/. Victoria’s weekly column, “The Devil’s Hammer,” is posted every Monday. http://www.fromthebalcony.com/editorials.php.
If you would like to be included on Victoria’s private distribution list for a weekly preview, just email her at masauu@aol.com. Victoria lives in Las Vegas, Nevada and answers every email. You can contact Victoria directly at masauu@aol.com.