An Underrated Halle Berry Movie Just Dropped On Netflix
Halle Berry has a movie hitting Netflix and this one is poised to do rather well on the streamer. Berry definitely carries this thriller
Halle Berry has shown the ability to play all kinds of characters and in any manner of movie at this point. She’s about as versatile a talent that we have in Hollywood and over the years continues to make solid, sometimes spectacular films, that showcase her immense talent. So it’s rarely a surprise to find out one of her movies is gaining an audience on streaming. Her resume has more than enough entries and her flicks have tended to hold up over the long term. One of those films movies just hit Netflix and is poised for a solid run on the streamer. The Call is now available on Netflix in the United States and this one should play perfectly with what that audience seems to love.
The Call stars Halle Berry as Jordan Turner, a 911 operator who, at one time, was among the best in the game at fielding emergency calls. But a traumatic experience that left a victim dead on the other end of the line has her taking a step back and just training the new folks in the 911 business. That is until one day they get a call from a young woman who’s been kidnapped. She’s calling from the trunk of a car and so begins a cat-and-mouse game with Jordan trying to figure out the whereabouts of the young lady and the identity of the kidnapper. Does it all tie back to that original call that went wrong for Jordan? Because this is Hollywood, the answer is “of course”. Check out Halle Berry in the trailer for The Call.
This movie follows some familiar beats for the thriller type of movie. There’s a tight script that focuses on the abduction and the “clue solving” mechanics that have Halle Berry as Jordan begins to hone in on the location of the girl. And of course, there’s the bigger narrative tie-in that connects this call to the one that originally had Jordan needing to step away from the headset. In this way, the film is pretty tidy and narrow in its focus. But it mostly works because Halle Berry is able to carry her time on screen and the story is just plausible (from a Hollywood point of view) enough to keep the viewer engaged. In other words, this is set to do pretty well on Netflix.
In addition to Halle Berry, there are a couple of other notables in The Call’s cast. For starters, the great Abigail Breslin plays Casey, the young woman who’s been kidnapped. She plays the part well, terrified, but determined to find her way out of this complete mess of a situation. And then there is Michael Eklund as Michael, the dude doing the kidnapping. It’s not a mistake that this guy often takes the part of the creepy villain in his movies and roles. He just very much looks and acts the part, something that’s fully on display in this movie. Michael Imperioli and Morris Chestnut help round out some of the cast in more side roles.
Brad Anderson directed this Halle Berry film and has had a penchant for helming thriller flicks over the course of his career. Also on the resume are movies like Fractures, The Machinist, Beirut, and Vanishing on 7th Street. He even recently directed an episode of Peacemaker, “Stop Dragon My Heart Around”.
The Call turned a tidy profit at the box office when it first hit theaters in 2013. On a budget of just $13 million (the movie is pretty insular), it managed to earn just south of $69 million in ticket sales. Some of that was on the back of Halle Berry and her star turn, but also because tight thrillers like this tend to find an audience. That being said, critics weren’t necessarily on board at the time with the movie scoring just 44% on Rotten Tomatoes though even the most negative of opinions tended to think Halle Berry held up well here. It was some silliness late game in the script that might have undone it in the end.
Let’s see how Halle Berry and company perform on Netflix with The Call. Because of the leading lady and combined with the thriller/ mystery aspect of the plot, it stands to reason this one climbs the charts pretty quickly.
