MYST #2

THE CALL

The Call is the typical thriller about a killer taking their victim hostage, and the main character’s quest to save the victim. However, the movie is told threw the view of a 911 operator, giving it a unique twist. Halle Berry plays Jordan, a 911 operator who gets hundreds of alarming calls a day, yet they don’t seem to phase her. She’s a calm character that works well under pressure, which makes her perfect for this job. However, that all changes when she gets a call from a young girl who has an intruder (Michael Eklund) in her home. With Jordan’s help the girl was able to hide from the intruder and stay safe, but when the phone gets disconnected Jordan panics. Jordan calls back the number, which causes the man to hear and find the girl. This man gets away with it and proceeds to kidnap more girls such as Casey (Abigail Breslin). The movie is then about Jordan’s journey to correct her mistake and find the man and end his killing spree. 



This movie is a thriller. Therefore, it relies heavily on close ups to create suspense. Scenes that showed Jordan working as an operator always had close ups, and scenes where Casey was on the phone with Jordan was always a close up. The dim lighting also contributed to the suspense. The entire scene where the girl is taken from her room is shot in extremely dark lighting. It is night time, and there are no lights on in the house. Therefore, it is extremely hard to see which adds get suspense. The scene began with a close up of Jordan receiving the 911 call. Then the shot goes to a close up of the young girl at her house. The shot of the girl is far to the right where she is standing in front of a wall, and far to the left you can see the man trying to break through the window. The camera then follows the girl close behind as Jordan tells her to go hide. When the man breaks in the house it is dark, and you never see his face. Either it's too dark or the only show his feet or back. This also creates suspense because he is a dark and dangerous character. He then searches her room, and the whole time it's quiet, which builds suspense. While he searches her room, the camera is shot from under the bed so you can only see his feet. After he searches the room he goes downstairs, which causes us, as an audience, to relax. However, this is when the phone gets disconnected. Therefore, Jordan calls the phone back and the man hears it and goes back upstairs. Once again the shot is from under the bed and you only see his feet. Then when you think he's gone again he drags the girl out from under the bed, which is extremely similar to the movie Taken. The entire scene is much like the scene of Taken when the men break in. The only difference is the lighting in Taken is bright while the lighting in this scene is extremely dark. However, in Taken there are shots of feet under the bed and the girl ultimately gets dragged out from under the bed, which is the exact same as in The Call. The story line was also similar to Taken where the girl is taken and the main character does whatever it takes to get the girl back. I am not a fan of the movie Taken, but I did enjoy The Call. Also, I enjoyed the protagonist being a woman, and I loved how she put matters into her own hands. She worked extremely hard and put her life at risk to fix her own mistake. However, the movie was very long with drawn out scenes that could have ended sooner. Also, it was very unrealistic at times (much like Taken). However, it's an interesting story line with a thrilling ending that will no doubt keep you at the edge of your seat. I would give this movie 3/5 stars