The Call Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

The Call Blu-ray Movie Review

Who you gonna call?

Reviewed by Martin Liebman June 24, 2013

Stay emotionally detached.

It's comforting to know that there are good people out there to counter the bad people, that there are people willing to take not only the physical risks but also the emotional risks to save a life, to become an instant friend, to talk someone through a crisis, to focus all their attention on one person, one stranger, one nobody in a sea of victims that come and go as quickly, it seems, as their hushed or hurried or desperate or down voices travel through wires and bounce off satellites and spill through communications receivers. It's even more encouraging to realize that, for many of these people, the help they give is sincere and not merely a routine performed for a paycheck, that some of them understand -- and embrace -- that they're doing what they can for the greater good, even if it's just lending a reassuring voice, flipping the right switches, and pushing the right buttons. 911 Operators may be amongst the most invisible, least-prasied of the everyday heroes, but their job is perhaps the most important of all, requiring excellent organizational skills to go along with that calming effect that can be just as important as the speeding ambulance or the armed police officers. But they must exercise caution, too, removing emotion from the equation, at least as best they can, and understanding and accepting not only the lack of gratitude but the very real truth that, ultimately, the resolution to nearly each and every call is completely out of their hands. In Director Brad Anderson's (The Machinist) The Call, a highly skilled 911 operator is forced to make difficult choices, assess and reassess an ever-evolving situation that she can neither see nor fully understand, and try to maintain her composure and protocol while handling the most intense and immediate call she's ever received.

Listen attentively, speak firmly, and keep those emotions in check.

Veteran 911 operator Jordan Turner (Halle Berry) desperately tries to save a young kidnapping victim's life, but she fails. The call is disconnected and the matter is suddenly out of her hands. Later, news of the discovery of the victim's body is all over the television. Jordan escapes from the rigors of phone duty by guiding new employees through the do's-and-don't's of the system, but she's forced back into duty when a relatively inexperienced operator finds herself incapable of handling a very urgent and dramatic kidnapping call. Teenager Casey Welson (Abigail Breslin) has been kidnapped in a mall parking lot and forced into the trunk of a car. Thankfully, her forgetful friend left her a pay-as-you-go TracFone that slipped past her kidnapper. Jordan talks Casey through the situation, helping her in any way she can to attract attention or describe her surroundings. Unfortunately, the phone cannot be easily traced. Casey does her best, but her kidnapper remains one step ahead, despite a number of obstacles along the way. As the case unfolds and the truth comes into focus, Casey and her kidnapper seem only to be slipping further away. It'll be up to Jordan to put the pieces together and save Casey, if she can.

The Call does far more right than wrong, though the "wrong" comes at the end of the movie and leaves a fairly sour taste in the mouth after a strong first two acts. At its best, which is the bulk of the film, The Call engenders a fairly consistent intensity. The emotional roller coaster of spine-tingling highs and lows defines the picture's ebb and flow, and the tension remains even though there's never much doubt as to the ultimate fate of the characters involved. The film works so well because it pits basic good versus basic evil. It's not some overly complicated dark drama with tangled themes but rather an effectively straightforward story that makes it incredibly easy to cheer on innocence and root against evil. There's a rawness to the movie, not in style but certainly in theme, in the way the picture contrasts the good on one side with the evil on the other with that innocence caught in the middle. The movie is never understated but never does it venture too far towards the other end and manufacture emotions or force-feed the audience. Instead, the emotions flow freely in the pursuit of justice and the audience's determination through almost sheer will to force the right outcome. Brad Anderson does a fabulous job of placing the audience in Jordan's shoes and guiding it to feel the sense of panic and unknown even as the film follows Casey through her ordeal. The audience feels the pull from both sides and feeds off the emotions coming from every angle. It's surpassingly well done for a movie that could have been a by-the-book Thriller. Certainly the ending disappoints, not just because it ditches the very real emotional attachment for standard cinema sensationalism but also because of a final few seconds that really seem to betray the characters by painting them in, suddenly, an entirely different light.

Another area of success for the film is in its ability to depict the realities -- the stresses, the uncertainty, the suddenness, the need for detachment -- from the frantic world of what they label "the hive," or the 911 call center. Even dramatized, no doubt, for film, the effect seems very real and the immediacy of the calls, the need to think on one's feet, and the requirement to maintain composure even under the sudden onslaught of oftentimes terrible emotions are all very smartly and expertly established. Halle Berry is fantastic in the part, selling a veteran composure but very humanly betraying, at times, the job's strict requirements by wearing her emotions on her sleeve, emotions that lead her to a firm dedication to saving the girl and in the formation of the understandably close emotional attachment that forms the longer they stay together on the line and the more harrowing the kidnapping experience becomes. Those emotions also help give shape to her decisions later in the film that, no matter one's reaction, are at least fully understandable in the greater context of the wave of powerful feelings that shape the ebb and flow of the movie. Breslin, too, delivers a quality performance through almost nothing more than her ability to react to the realities of the kidnapping, to truly express the raw pain and disbelief and fully enveloping terror that only heighten the drama, further draw out the audience's emotions, and strengthen the budding attachment she has with Berry's Jordan. Michael Eklund is excellent as the unassuming villain, and Sopranos star and tequila pitchman Michael Imperioli is fantastic as a good samaritan caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The Call Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Call's digital photography usually sparkles on Blu-ray. The only real problem area comes from blacks that could stand to be a little tighter, a bit deeper, and not quite so pale as they sometimes are, but this is otherwise a high quality and high yield Blu-ray presentation that shows just how great a digitally photographed motion picture can look. Details are fantastic. In-tight shots reveal complex skin textures that replicate a real appearance. Clothing lines, too, look great, and the picture clarity is so strong that all the little background elements inside the call center, at a mall, and within a fairly dark underground lair all look fabulous. The image is always as crisp and perfectly defined as the format allows, with not an inch appearing anything other than razor-sharp. Colors are balanced and brilliant when necessary. The cooler call center, the vibrant splashes of color at the mall, and the various shades of cars zipping down the freeway all serve as a showcase for the transfer's superb color reproduction. Skin tones, too, appear consistently accurate. There's almost no banding and nearly zero noise. If it weren't for those problem blacks, this would rate as a perfect transfer.

The Call Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Call rings onto Blu-ray with an excellent DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. This is one of those presentations that sounds straight out of the theater. It's big, clarity is impeccable, and the quality is top-notch. In other words, it's pretty much the perfect soundtrack. The film opens with, and again showcases once or twice later in the film, a sonic collage of 911 calls that spread all over the stage; front, back, and sides are swarming with chatter. The effect is fully immersive and highly enjoyable from an audio perspective. Music delivery is smooth and precise, wide and with a firm surround support and a strong low end foundation. Even muddled music heard from the trunk of a car sounds impeccably authentic. Some of the bigger sound effects -- buzzing helicopters or various crashes and smashes -- play with faultless presence and realism. The low end picks up nicely at the end, sending deep, positive pulses into the stage. Dialogue plays accurately and clearly from the center. This might not be the most continuously dynamic track on Blu-ray, but it's full, enjoyable, and technically flawless.

The Call Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The Call contains a commentary track and plenty of featurettes. DVD and UV digital copies are also included.

• Alternate Ending (HD, 0:52).
• Audio Commentary: Director Brad Anderson; Actresses Abigail Breslin and Halle Berry; Producers Michael Helfant, Robert Stein, and Bradley Gallo; and Writer Richard D'Ovidio discuss the film's roots, learning from real 911 operators, playing with reality for dramatic effect, the film's structure, casting, shooting with helicopters, filming inside the trunk, editing, and plenty more. For a track with seven participants, it's surprisingly even, well-spoken, and highly informative. Fans will definitely want to spend some time with it. With optional English subtitles.
• Deleted and Extended Scenes (HD, 4:22): Call Center Class, Jordan and Officer Phillips Talk on Rooftop, Michael Moves Casey to Another Car, and Last Warning.
• Emergency Procedures (HD, 14:53): A basic making-of piece that features cast and crew discussing the the idea to explore 911 call takers, casting, shooting inside car trunks, makeup and prosthetics, and the film's ending. Cast and crew also discuss who they would want to share a car trunk with and actor preparations for the roles.
• Inside the Stunts (HD, 6:56): A closer look at making a few stunts, including a scene inside a parking garage, shooting a fall down a trap door, working with prop and real shovels, and setting fire to a stuntman.
• Michael Eklund Audition Footage (HD, 7:48): A peek inside a Hollywood audition.
• Set Tour of the Call Center (HD, 4:51): Production Designer Franco G. Carbone leads a discussion about the construction and scope of the set.
• Set Tour of the Lair (HD, 3:27): Carbone, cast, and crew talk about building and working in one of the film's crucial sets.
• Previews: Additional Sony titles.
• UV Digital Copy.
• DVD Copy.

The Call Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Call isn't the world's most original movie, and it's really fairly predictable save for the turn it takes in the final moments, but the movie works on raw emotion and its simple yet hugely effective pitting of good versus evil. The film creates a tense dramatic current that never relents. It's very polished and smartly put together, helped tremendously by a few seamless performances from the leads. Don't look for The Call to dominate the Oscars, but do make a point to see it; it's a Thriller well worth the price of admission, even if it doesn't bend or break the mold. Sony's Blu-ray release of The Call features top-end video and audio. A healthy assortment of supplements are included. Highly recommended.