The Call

A great pitch doesn't always translate into a cogent movie and this low-rent, high concept Halle Berry vehicle is a perfect example. There is nothing wrong with the premise, which finds Berry as an emergency services operator in a race against time to locate a kidnapped teenager, played by Abigail Breslin. However, there is no room for that idea to develop without all credibility flying out the window. Breslin has managed to dial 911 from the boot of a car she is being held in, but the fact that she spends two thirds of the movie talking to Berry on the phone without the kidnapper (Michael Eklund) checking to see if she has a mobile phone is just one of the many gaping plot holes that is never satisfactorily addressed. Director Brad Anderson - who got his break with acclaimed independent drama The Machinist - generates some suspense in the early scenes, but his heart doesn't seem to be in this tired generic exercise.