The Call was an Action-Thriller directed by Brad Anderson and written by Richard D’Ovidio centered around blank, played by Halle Barry. Barry played the role of 911 call operator Jordan Turner who blames herself for the death of a young girl she communicated with who was killed in the chilling opening of the movie. Barry lost signal with the girl after receiving a call that an intruder had broken into her house. She committed a fatal error of calling the girl back, leading to her alerting the intruder and her eventual death. Distraught and out of sorts, Turner must gather her senses and return to her high stress position without personalizing the prior incident.
The film progresses with teenager Casey Welson, played by Abigail Breslin being kidnapped in the parking lot of a shopping mall by Michael Foster, played by Michael Eklund. Welson finds herself in the trunk of a car in a desperate and seemingly hopeless situation. As the wild chase progresses and Foster continues driving with Welson in a trunk, Turner continues to break the rules by personalizing the situation to a greater extent. We begin to observe a striking change in her demeanor as she bursts out with emotion while instructing Welson to draw attention to herself using different methods.
The turning point of the film comes when Foster opens the trunk and ends the call with Turner. The quote he uses provides a chilling moment that provides insight into the aforementioned crisis. He states that “Its already done” referring to Welson and her fate and refuses to give in to the pleas of Turner to end this on different terms. We soon discover the theme of redemption is one that plays out in different ways for Foster and Turner as she unravels an undiscovered history Foster keeps hidden–his long lost sister which is motivating his murderous ways. Welson is symbolic of the innocence which Turner and Foster require to regain something they have lost in life.
Barry plays a fantastic role as a call operator who demonstrates an equal amount of resolve and vulnerability, which together formulate a very vibrant character. The were similar to her great performances in Swordfish and The Perfect Stranger in which she gave equally commanding performances. Barry pulls the audience into her struggle for redemption and we become helpless onlookers. Eklund also delivers a great on screen performance of a kidnapper who makes the audience disgusted yet somewhat sympathetic as his history is revealed. It is a change from his more action centered rolls such as that he portrayed in Hunt to Kill in his limited movie career.
Overall the movie captivates the audience from beginning to end as it wonderfully weaves it’s themes of redemption and vulnerability into exciting fast paced scenes of terror and fear. Each scene perfectly builds onto the next and keeps the audience engaged from beginning to end. Anderson does a masterful job of staying true to the essence of the film while pulling the audience with his chilling opening to his exciting ending.