Movie Review: The Call

A movie set inside a room. That is a recipe for a good thriller. Don't beileve me? Have you seen "Rear Window" directed by Alfred Hitchcock? There is another one from Alfred Hitchcock titled "The Rope" which also has a similar premise. Recently, there was the Ryan Reynolds starrer "Buried".  All these are some of the enjoyable thrillers with this premise. The Call directed by Brad Anderson and starring Halle Berry has a similar premise.

Halle Berry's Jordan is a 911 operator who is coping with past demons and hence gets herself assigned to less stressful work like training newbies. One day, she reluctantly takes up a call of a kidnapped girl Casey(Abigail Breslin). Unknown to Jordan, Casey's abductor is the one responsible for her current situation. So, the stage is set for redemption and closure. To Halle Berry's credit, she is able to display some histrionic skills in this thriller. It is difficult to show off your acting talents in a thriller.

Brad Anderson is able to keep us hooked to movie in the first 2 acts. The first two acts are thrilling and full of suspense. We are constantly outguessing the various players and also the director. During the third act, he disappoints us. In order to find closure for Jordan, he takes liberties and get Jordan out of the "hive" into the open. Suddenly the operator becomes a detective. Those scenes are difficult to digest. He carries a risk of diluting the thrills and the pace if he had spread the two acts into three. With the current third act, he is actually taking the suspension of disbelief a bit seriously.

It has some thrills but a cliched ending. Go for it if there is nothing else to pick.

Language: English

Genre: Thriller

Rating: **

Tags: Movies,Halle Berry,Brad Anderson,Thriller

For more information, please visit. https://www.yahoo.com/movies/film/the-call-2013

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