Blu-ray Review: Good Turn From Halle Berry Wasted on ‘The Call’

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CHICAGO – I love Brad Anderson and the vision he showed in films like “Session 9,” “Transsiberian,” and his amazing episode of “Masters of Horror,” “Sounds Like.” He’s also done great work on television on shows like “Fringe” and “Boardwalk Empire.” And so while it seemed clear that “The Call,” recently released on Blu-ray and DVD, was little more than a director-for-hire gig, there was no denying they hired a really talented director. Sadly, even Anderson can’t save a remarkably boneheaded script that exploits more than scares and really falls apart in a final act that needed a full rewrite. Halle Berry gives it her all but this just doesn’t work.

Rating: 2.0/5.0

The idea isn’t bad. A girl gets kidnapped in a mall parking garage and is able to connect with a 911 operator. Can the connection save her life? The scenes between the girl (Abigail Breslin) and the operator (Halle Berry) work. There’s an energy there in not just the situation but the dialogue. What do I do now? What would you do in the same situation — either the caller or the operator? It’s EVERYTHING else that doesn’t work. The prologue, in which our operator has to have a tragedy to overcome, and the climax, in which our operator becomes a detective (she NEVER should have left the desk), are completely ineffective.

As for the Blu-ray, it’s solid, as most Sony new releases are. By now, we’re deep enough into the HD revolution that new release HD films are going to have a similar degree of 1080p glory and well-mixed audio. “The Call” works on a technical level. The script is another story.

The Call was released on Blu-ray and DVD on June 25, 2013
Photo credit: Sony

Synopsis:
In this heart-pounding, edge-of-your-seat thriller, veteran 911 operator Jordan (Academy Award Winner Halle Berry, Monster’s Ball, 2001) takes a life-altering call from a teenage girl (Academy Award nominee Abigail Breslin, Little Miss Sunshine, 2006) who has been kidnapped and thrown into the trunk of a madman’s car. But with the clock ticking, Jordan soon realizes she must confront a killer from her past to put an end to a serial killer’s haunting rampage. Also starring Morris Chestnut.

Special Features:
o Commentary Featuring: Halle Berry, Abigail Breslin and the Filmmakers
o Emergency Procedure: Making The Film
o Alternate Ending
o Deleted And Extended Scenes
o Set Tours Of The Hive and The Lair
o Inside The Stunts
o Audition Tape: Michael Eklund

By BRIAN TALLERICO Content Director HollywoodChicago.com [email protected]