The Call

This film stars Halle Berry. Wait, come back! The lesser-spotted Brad Anderson returns to the directors chair with a surprisingly enjoyable kidnapping yarn involving Berry's 911 operator as she tries to locate the snatched from a car park Abigail Breslin before jittery psycho Michael Eklund can....well...best see for yourself. It's a straightforward premise which was originally planned as a TV series and whilst there are plenty of cracks on show (some of acting of the minor characters is woeful) this makes the most of it's small budget and has a number of genuine edge of the seat moments. A mis-step at the end aside this is solid most of the way through and the brief running time means things move along at a nimble pace. On the negative side a couple of moments of nasty violence aren't really called for and having the teenage Breslin unnecessarily spend the last third of the film in her bra is a bit queasy. Overall though Anderson's old school direction keeps the package together, though you may want to knock off a mark for Berry's shocking barnet. Rating: 8/10.