The Call (2013)
Average Rating: 5.2/10
Reviews Counted: 121
Fresh: 53 | Rotten: 68
The Call builds plenty of suspense before taking a problematic turn in the third act.
Average Rating: 5.5/10
Critic Reviews: 24
Fresh: 10 | Rotten: 14
The Call builds plenty of suspense before taking a problematic turn in the third act.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.7/5
User Ratings: 46,898
Movie Info
When veteran 911 operator, Jordan (Halle Berry), takes a life-altering call from a teenage girl (Abigail Breslin) who has just been abducted, she realizes that she must confront a killer from her past in order to save the girl's life. (c) Sony
Cast
-
Halle Berry
Jordan Turner -
Abigail Breslin
Casey Welson -
Morris Chestnut
Officer Paul Phillip... -
Michael Eklund
Michael Foster -
David Otunga
Officer Jake Devans -
Michael Imperioli
Alan Denado -
Justina Machado
Rachel -
Jose Zuniga
Marco -
Roma Maffia
Maddy -
Evie Louise Thompson
Leah Templeton -
Denise Dowse
Flora -
Ella Rae Peck
Autumn -
Jenna Lamia
Brooke -
Ross Gallo
Josh -
Tara Platt
Female Trainee -
Sammy Busby
Officer -
Michael Linstroth
Officer #1 -
Lisa Grady
Forensics Agent -
Rakefet Abergel
Trainee #1 -
Jay Potter
Bryan -
Teresea Jelks-Kirkle...
Operator #1 -
Yolanda Arroyo
Operator #2 -
Frankie Louis Mulcah...
Young Operator in Qu... -
Steven Williams
Terrence -
Tommy Rosales Jr.
Jose -
Alisa Hensley
Soccer Mom
ADVERTISEMENT
The Call Trailer & Photos
All Critics (121) | Top Critics (24) | Fresh (53) | Rotten (68) | DVD (1)
Just when the movie has us in its grasp, the script falls to pieces and turns into a crass female-in-peril button-pusher.
Crude as it is, The Call milks its jump scares and don't-go-down-to-the-basement tension for all they're worth. See it with a full house, if you absolutely must see it at all.
Let's call The Call what it is: high quality trash that both diminishes and is redeemed by all the talents who have deigned to bring it to life.
If you're going to watch a movie in which two people talk on the phone for most of the film, it's not the worst thing in the world for one of the folks involved to have the face of Storm from the X-Men.
Top CriticThis is as brain-dead as a movie can be and it assumes the audience will have the I.Q. of a rutabaga.
It's a lot better than you might expect a movie like this to be.
Halle Berry delivers an emphatic reminder of her star status in this tightly-plotted low-budget thriller.
Relentlessly suspenseful, this lean thriller has an emotional subtext that makes it almost unbearably involving.
The Call delivers taut no-frills thrills for two-thirds of its brisk, hour-and-half running time. But the plot falls apart spectacularly as soon as Halle leaves the 911 control room and the ludicrous finale will leave you groaning.
A film that was just highly improbable for 75 minutes loses its mind thereafter and invites you to do the same.
While plausibility is often stretched to the limit, the sense of threat will keep you on the edge of your seat, even during a ridiculously gratuitous denouement.
The familiar serial-killer flick gets a welcome shakeup, upending the woman-as-victim cliché and offering a bracing new perspective on an oft-told tale.
The Call is the kind of vaguely smart, extremely gory gloop you should watch on TV, preferably when you're tucked up in bed with a delirium-inducing fever. That way, you won't notice when the script goes bonkers.
The Call begins as a moderately effective thriller, showing us a side of the LA police we haven't seen before. Then it gets dumb. Then it gets much dumber.
Berry and Breslin make a good women-in-peril double act.
A promising picture turns into gibberish. Shame.
The story and set-up feel conceptually flawed from the get-go. This was never going to end well.
It's a neat nerve-frayer with lessons for anyone finding themselves trapped in a confined space and needing to alert the outside world.
It's the trashy premise that hooks you in.
After this unusually well-made thriller builds suspense to almost unbearable levels, the filmmakers nearly throw everything away with a gear-change so contrived that we can't help but laugh.
Smartly directed and sharply written, The Call is a suspenseful and engaging thriller with superb performances from Halle Berry and Abigail Breslin, though it stumbles a little in the final act.
It's a tense, taut thriller that only eases off the tension in the final reel.
Tense, effective popcorn pulp that smashes to smithereens the tired trope of woman-as-victim.
The kind of clichéd nonsense so common in the mid-'90s, it's a throwback - and not necessarily in a good way.
Claustrophobic and low-key, the bulk of the film works brilliantly - helped in no small part by Berry's fantastically fractured performance.
Audience Reviews for The Call
Super Reviewer
Super Reviewer
-
- Jordan Turner: What's your favorite movie?
- Casey Welson: Bridesmaids.
Discussion Forum
| Topic | Last Post | Replies |
|---|---|---|
| A lot of us have already seen this :) | 6 months ago | 17 |
| Guess the Tomatometer??? | 6 months ago | 12 |
| Taken 3? | 6 months ago | 9 |
| I am actually surprised | 2 months ago | 4 |
| another bland halle berry film. | 2 months ago | 3 |
What's Hot On RT
New Desolation of Smaug trailer!
Naomi Watts is Princess Di
The Hangover 3, The Purge, and More
Trailer for a squirrely heist flick
See what's on TV tonight
Latest News on The Call
August 6, 2013:
Halle Berry's The Call Sets Redbox RecordSomeone's decision to take home the Halle Berry thriller made it the service's three billionth...
July 22, 2013:
The Call Director Brad Anderson Pushes RestartHe's helming a thriller about "an ordinary man who discovers that his entire life is being...
March 15, 2013:
Critics Consensus: The Incredible Burt Wonderstone is Short on Razzle DazzleThis week at the movies, we've got dueling magicians (The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, starring...
Fresh Links
Featured
Halloween Movies For Wimps
Scary movies too scary for you? Here are some alternatives for October 31st.
10 Best Superhero TV Shows
HitFix combs through TV history to compile a superpowered list.
Ridiculous Movie Mistakes
RollingStone proves even the best movies miss a details here and there.
Deadly Movie Kids
Moviefone lists 11 Movie Kids Who Could Kick Our Asses.
50 States, 50 Movies
For July 4th, TimeOut has compiled 50 state-specific movie choices.
Promos
Follow RT on Twitter!
Spice up your feed with hourly Tomatometer updates!
Featured on RT
- Primetime Preview: Supernatural, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and More 0
- RT on DVD & Blu-Ray: The Hangover Part III, The Purge, and More 11
- Primetime Preview: Beauty and the Beast, Sleepy Hollow and More 0
- NYFF: Joaquin Phoenix and James Gray talk The Immigrant 2
- Box Office Guru Wrapup: Gravity Stuns with Record $55M Launch 80
- Primetime Preview: Witches of East End, Once Upon a Time and More 4
- Weekly Ketchup: Disney Plans Live Action Cruella de Vil Movie 37
Top Headlines
-
Fox Animated Series, ABC Comedies Tumble in Sunday Ratings
0
-
Bong Joon-ho Reportedly "Furious" About Snowpiercer Cuts
0
-
Record-Setting Number of Films Competing in Foreign-Language Oscar Race
0
-
Woody Allen Cancels Blue Jasmine's India Premiere
1
-
Lionsgate Wants Gary Ross and Jennifer Lawrence's Burial Rites
1
-
ABC Plans Kevin Hart-Inspired Series
0
-
The Shining's Danny Torrance Is All Grown Up
1
Foreign Titles
- Leg nicht auf! (DE)
- The Calll (FR)
Greatly acted, slightly predictable but surprising ending, enjoyable and worth a watch!