Review of The Call (2013) by Seth H — 04 Aug 2013

Let me begin by saying that I did not hate The Call. Nor can I say that I loved it. For what it is, I actually quite liked it.

The film begins with an amateur mistake, opening with sound rather than anything to look at other than a helicopter shot of Los Angeles. After seeing the greater downtown area for a just a bit too long, we cut inside to The Hive, the central location for the 911 operators. Here we meet Jordan Turner, played by the lovely Halle Berry, who inadvertently costs a break-in victim her life when she redials the number to ensure the young girl is still safe. The ringing of the telephone alerts the burglar to the presence of the young girl, and she is abducted. Several days later, he body is found buried. Jordan is deeply saddened by this.

Then the film does what I've always found annoying. We intercut to a title card that reads "SIX MONTHS LATER." Why does it have to be six months? Why six? So arbitrary, and it never adds anything to the story. But I digress.

It's been six months since that night, and Jordan is now teaching aspirants the business of operating emergency calls. While making her rounds, Jordan takes over for a rookie for who has just a received a call from a girl in hysterics. The girl is Casey Welson, played the charming and beautiful Abigail Breslin. Abigail was abducted from the mall parking garage by one Michael Eklund (Michael Foster), a sociopathic murderer who never recovered from the death of his older sister who died of cancer, and with whom he appears to have had an incestuous love. Driven mad by his loss, Michael takes young blonde girls who remind him of his sister to a Saw-esque torture dungeon in the woods where he scalps them for their luscious locks, using them as wigs to preserve in the recreation of his sister's bedroom.

The bulk of the film is Jordan and Abigail talking on the phone as the police department desperately attempts to get a lock on the girl's signal from her disposable cell phone.

While the thrills come mostly in the form of jump scares, Breslin portrays a sympathetic victim and Foster portrays a convincing madman.

The focus of the script is as about as broad as it can be for a story such as this, with a few unnecessary ludicrous bits sprinkled throughout. Especially the ending. Nay, the entire third act and the resolution itself. But I won't ruin that part for you.

The final verdict is watch The Call. Turns the lights down low, get your snack of choice and press play. Though I recommend you see this with a friend.