Life for an emergency dispatcher
certainly doesn’t allow for a dull day and Jordan Turner (Halle Berry, X-Men, Perfect Stranger) knows this to
be quite the truth. Screenwriter Richard D'Ovidio brings a real-life scenario to
cinema and believably hits the nail on the head in this suspense/thriller.
Jordan undergoes the stress and trauma of one particularly difficult call where
a man breaks into a young woman’s residence and kills her while the phone is
still connected to 911. It affects Jordan’s abilities in the months that pass
by rather too quickly [though for the sake of keeping a film of this caliber on
track it was necessary]. With a fresh approach at her job, Jordan is in the
middle of training a group of new dispatchers while another critical call comes
through and she is faced with the duties and challenges of her old position on
the call floor.
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| (c) 2013 | Troika Pictures and WWE Studios |
Immediately engaged in the situation, she assists teenager
Casey (Abigail Breslin, Little Miss
Sunshine, My Sister’s Keeper) who has just been abducted from a mall
parking garage and stuck in the trunk of his [the kidnapper] car. The problem?
Casey’s call originates from a prepaid cellphone that does not have any sort of
global tracking systems intact. Taking alternative approaches, minutes lead
into hours
and with a majority of the city’s police force in search, Jordan and
Casey utilize the resources they are limited to in order to escape from her
abductor. Jordan and the police collaborate and uncover many leads, though the
several hours having passed with multiple victims tragically involved, the
suspense continues through the night as law enforcement come to no resolve
after hitting many dead corners. The call comes to a disconnect after a brief
conversation with the man responsible for Casey’s disappearance. He then reveals
a disturbing clue that Jordan recognizes as the same man who killed the young
lady several months prior which caused her so much mental anguish. Jordan
decides that she’d piece together the clues and take justice in her own hands
to save Casey and to see that her captor pays for all he’s done.  |
| (c) 2013 | Troika Pictures and WWE Studios |
The movie influences viewers to
pay attention to every detail with their soda and snacks close by but I couldn’t
help but trim the five nails on my left hand down to their flesh as I sat in
anticipation of what would happen next—all the while questioning the validity
of certain aspects of the film. I did find it inconsistent to a fault when a
day-to-day emergency dispatcher [without any formal protection or useful
skills] hit the street to hunt down a psychopath. Another facet I questioned
was how a partially charged cell phone could keep a stable connection
throughout most of the film [which spanned over several hours] and only then
showed a low battery at the time it was manually disconnected by the crook. However,
a well laid out film like this is still enjoyable and yet should stand up to a
highly deserving accolade.
I give The Call 3 out of 5 stars for its delivery of an intense thought
engaging plot that lacks just a couple minor uniformities with the reality
driven scenarios in which it conveyed.
