By Roger Moore
FILM: The Call
CAST: Halle Berry, Abigail Breslin, Michael Eklund Morris Chestnut
DIRECTION: Brad Anderson.
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Rare is the thriller that goes as completely and utterly wrong as The Call does at almost precisely the one-hour mark. Which is a crying shame, because for an hour, this is a riveting, by-the-book kidnapping, with a Hollywood budget and a director with a sense of urgency and camera lenses that put the action, the fear and horror, right in your face.
Brad Anderson (Transsiberian, The Machinist) turns this novel procedural, a serial killer hunt set inside LA’s 911 Call Centre (The Hive), into a real edge-of-your-seat thriller.
Given Halle Berry, as a veteran 911 operator whose mistake months ago haunts her, and Abigail Breslin as a kidnapped teen on the cell phone from a darkened car trunk, and a half-decent tale of horror, guilt, problem solving and redemption, Anderson couldn’t go far wrong.
Until he, and the movie, do.
But up until then, from the moment Casey (Breslin) makes the frantic, gasping, tearful call to the moment logic takes a holiday, The Call works.
Berry’s character, Jordan, is the daughter of a cop, dating another cop (Morris Chestnut), somebody whose dad taught her that she has to be able to handle the knowledge “that you might be the difference between somebody living and somebody dying”. She’s been struggling with that since her blunder led an intruder to a victim six months before.
Now, on an afternoon when she’s walking recruits through training at The Hive, explaining the technology to them (and to the audience), another girl is grabbed. This one has a phone and she’s calling from the trunk. Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine) makes us feel her terror, mainly in her voice. Berry wears the dread that panicked voice gives her on her face. She can’t help herself. Jordan breaks the cardinal rule of 911 operators - “Never ever make promises. Because you can’t keep’em.” She promises this girl she’ll live.
The Call lets us reason along with the operator and the caller, figuring out options. They are a mix of by-the-book details, and amusing examples of thinking outside the box.
Anderson teases out solutions, tempts us with bystander help and shows how the system can work in a case like this - linking calls, triangulating cell phone signals (not easy with a disposable phone), dispatching cops, trying to beat the clock that they’re racing against.
It’s only when the story needs to string out its finale that the film goes wrong, only when our Oscar-winning heroine puts down the phone and sets out to do some sleuthing of her own that The Call disconnects, turning into something far more generic, far more routine and far less exciting. — MCT
Formulaic thriller
FILM: Home Sweet Home
CAST:Alexandra Boylan, Raquel Cantu, Christopher Dempsey , Lorena Segura York , Andrew Maiorano
DIRECTION: John K D Graham
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wen Stevens (Alexandra Boylan) is at a crossroads in her life; job, parents, money, apartment, Gwen has lost everything. She needs a safe, quiet haven to get her head together and find a new direction.
But when she arrives at the childhood home of her deceased parents in the remote New Mexico desert, she realises that her quest for control is quickly challenged when she discovers that the house that was once her sanctuary is now someone else’s domain and she is definitely not welcome.
Her peaceful refuge has become home to a pair of psychotic squatters with plans of their own. Now, miles from civilisation and possible rescue, Gwen finds herself trapped, terrorised, tormented and waging a desperate fight to escape the brutal intruders who have moved in.
Gwen’s private retreat quickly devolves into a battle for her home and, ultimately, a desperate fight for her life.
A routine and formulaic thriller with all the usual ingredients.- WS
Impressive action sequences
FILM: The Marine 3: Homefront
CAST: Mike “The Miz” Mizanin, Neal McDonough, Ashley Bell
DIRECTION: Scott Wiper
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One has to look at The Marine 3 as a throwaway bit of escapism. The bottom line is whether it entertains as a direct-to-video action film should. The answer is, it does.
The story follows Sgt Jake Carter (WWE’s The Miz) after he returns home from duty to spend some time with his sisters. His youngest sister Lily (Ashley Bell of The Last Exorcism fame) is thrilled to see him home but still butts heads with him over how she’s living her life. Lily goes off to spend some time with her boyfriend, but they stumble onto a murder near an abandoned riverboat. The men who commit the murder then capture Lily and her boyfriend to keep them from revealing their position before they can plan a terrorist attack.
Jake takes it upon himself to circumvent local law enforcement to use his special skills to infiltrate the terrorist stronghold and save his sister.
The Marine 3: Homefront is directed by Scott Wiper, who started in low-budget acting and had a brief shot at theatrical features with Steve Austin in The Condemned.
Rather than throwing together a run-of-the-mill actioner, Wiper takes time to stage some strong action sequences, including hand-to-hand combat as well as some nice scene with bullets flying and explosions literally rocking the boat. Working on a smaller scale than even The Marine with John Cena, The Marine 3: Homefront feels a little more intimate, and knowing the more limited resources makes these action sequences impressive.
Like any action flick – big budget or not – The Marine 3 isn’t sold on its acting. The Miz actually has a decent level of on-screen charm, and he makes a better leading man than the original film’s John Cena. Neal McDonough chews through the scenery as he does in almost any movie he gets. There’s a certain cheesy fun to him in the role of the villain, which is better delivered than his other antagonist roles.
In the end, The Marine 3: Homefront will do, if you’re looking for an entertaining actioner to fill a few hours on the weekend. - WS
(DVDs courtesy:
Saqr Entertainment Stores, Doha)