Director Brad Anderson has a dynamic resume filled with several assured genre films. Movies like Session 9 and The Machinist , for example. His latest, The Call, is not that gateway film. Get the dish on The Call Blu-ray after the jump. Halle Berry Catwoman plays Jordan, a seasoned operator in L. Sporting a junior Eraserhead wig and tight polo shirt, she handles a diverse range of calls like a well-oiled machine.
Some of the calls are serious, some are bullshit. One regular caller just seems lonely. After some brief flirting with her officer boyfriend Morris Chesnut — Under Siege 2: Dark Territory , she answers a home invasion call from a teenage girl. That is until Jordan makes a small but grave mistake and the girl winds up being kidnapped and buried in a shallow grave.
Hey man, everyone has their off days. The rookie operator who answered the call is understandably panicking, so Jordan reluctantly takes the reigns. The abductor is played by Michael Eklund 88 Minutes , who previously worked with Brad Anderson on an episode of Fringe.
His character is sort of a middle-ground serial killer. As far as we know, this is only his second caper. At the end of the day though, Eklund makes a fine scumbag.
In real life, if he so much as smiled at my hypothetical daughter, I would move outta the country. All nit-picking aside, The Call sets itself up to be a pretty sweet thriller. Unfortunately, it lacks any kind of style beyond music video flourishes like freeze frames and speed ramping. Anderson infused none of the inventiveness or attractive darkness of his earlier work.
