Tense Thriller Has Halle Berry Answering ‘The Call’

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HollywoodChicago.com Oscarman rating: 4.0/5.0
Rating: 4.0/5.0

CHICAGO – “The Call” rises above the usual crime drama for a couple of reasons. First, it is a thriller that runs at a breakneck speed, using the driving culture of Los Angeles in a cat-and-mouse chase. Secondly, it symbolically emphasizes the plight of women, and honors their empowerment.

On the surface, the film deals with 911 emergency operators, especially lead actress Halle Berry, in an exceptional performance. Below the story, the film has a lot to say about the assault on women in society. By using a kidnapping and torture plot, it introduces two exceptionally strong women (the characters of Berry and Abigail Breslin) and allows them to use their guts, guile and intuition to rise above the violent captor. This doesn’t become apparent until a questionable last act, but once this symbolism becomes clear it evolves “The Call” from an everyday crime thriller to something deeper and more involving.

Jordan (Halle Berry) is an expert call receiver at a Los Angeles 911 center. In the city the size of L.A., the calls come in a furious rate, but one call changes Jordan’s life. It is a home invasion, with a girl trapped in a room on the second floor, while the intruder searches for her. After tricking the criminal that the girl has escaped, a redial by Jordan alerts him anew, and the girl ends up dead.

Halle Berry
Jordan (Halle Berry) Mans Her Post in ‘The Call’
Photo credit: TriStar Pictures

The trauma and guilt of the crime affects Jordan greatly and gets her re-assigned to training. Even her cop boyfriend Paul (Morris Chestnut) can’t shake her gloom. While training some operators, another desperate call comes in, and Jordan has to sit back in the chair. It is the same captor as the previous case, but this time his victim, named Casey (Abigail Breslin), has a mobile phone and a will to survive. Together, Casey and Jordan will attempt to pinpoint the perpetrator’s location on the miles of L.A. freeways, and stop another potential killing.

This is high concept stuff, especially considering the signal physics of the “girl in a car trunk” making mobile phone calls. But that aside, the chase of the car is thrillingly fascinating, making seconds linger in importance. There is even an unusual good samaritan moment involving Michael Imperioli (“The Sopranos”) as the character who sticks his nose into the situation, proving no good deed goes unpunished. Director Brad Anderson puts the foot-on-the-gas in this part, and it keeps the pulse of the film racing.

This morphs into the last quarter of the story, when the chase comes to a dead end, and the victim and captor are left on their own. This is the questionable part of the whole film, but it exists to make a symbolic point. Berry and Breslin (who is remembered as a child performer in “Little Miss Sunshine”) emerged as the forces of strength in the film, the two women who will personally tend to their own justice, after every other force of society’s authority can’t do it. The way that plays out is remarkable and memorable, and allows the film to make its statement.

The composition and casting are also first rate. Los Angeles culture, especially driving on the ribbons of freeway, are vitally on display. The claustrophobia of the call center, where nothing can be done for a victim that can’t be located, is effectively used, almost like a cage for Jordan. Two supporting roles, Morris Chestnut as a cop whose nobility can’t catch up to the criminal and Michael Eklund as that criminal, are two performances that are prime examples of what makes this film work, allowing familiar archetypes to spin in different directions.

Abigail Breslin
Casey (Abigail Breslin) Awaits Her Fate in ‘The Call’
Photo credit: TriStar Pictures

And the film also wouldn’t work without the presence of Halle Berry. Her ability to create character and take that persona to a believable level, even as Jordan morphs into more of a symbol, is a testament to her talent. She is underrated as a character creator, and has had a career of generating performances that seem straight ahead on the page, but come to full life through her interpretation.

On many levels, the film defines the modern woman – strong, often making their own choices and defying any typical formula for “victim.” The story of “The Call” creates its own definitions, and is not afraid to assert them.

“The Call” opens everywhere on March 15th. Featuring Halle Berry, Morris Chestnut, Abigail Breslin and Michael Imperioli. Screenplay by Richard D’Ovidio. Directed by Brad Anderson. Rated “R”

HollywoodChicago.com senior staff writer Patrick McDonald

By PATRICK McDONALD
Senior Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com
pat@hollywoodchicago.com

© 2013 Patrick McDonald, HollywoodChicago.com

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