Movie Reviews: The Call

The New York Times's Manohla Dargis doesn't dispense positive reviews willy-nilly. That's why it seems a bit odd that she is one of the few who bestows one on The Call, starring Halle Berry. She calls it a model of low-budget filmmaking. And Mick LaSalle in the San Francisco Chronicle remarks: The Call might not be a classic for the ages, but for a Friday night? For a movie to take people out of themselves? And to make them marvel at the viewing experience that just happened to them? This one is hard to beat. But those are exceptions. Most of the reviews treat The Call as if it were an unwanted marketing message ringing up in the middle of the night. Take Sara Stewart's in the New York Post, for example, who writes: I'll say one thing for The Call: Its ending is actually a bit of a surprise. Just when you think it couldn't get any stupider, pow! I'll be damned, Hollywood, you still have the power to blindside. But Ignatiy Vishnevetsky does allow in the Chicago Sun-Times that its final fifteen or so minutes, The Call rises above hackwork. Unfortunately, it doesn't rise very far. And Bruce Demara in the Toronto Star remarks, Thinking about seeing The Call? You may want to put that on hold.