The Call (2013)
Six months after her mistake inadvertently resulted in a young girl’s murder, 9-11 operator Jordan Tuner (Halle Berry) takes a frantic call from kidnapped Casey Welson (Abigail Breslin) and realizes her kidnapper is the same murderer she encountered before. It’s a race against time to find him before he strikes again.
Abigail Breslin does what she can, but the role doesn’t require her to do much besides occasionally scream.
Halle Berry was nominated for a Razzie, but for the most part she gives a fine performance, she simply can’t overcome the script’s deficiencies. In the final act, Jordan leaves the 911 call center and morphs into a hybrid of Nancy Drew and Lara Croft, as if the writers couldn’t be bothered to continue with the character they had written because they had a vision for a kick ass ending which trumped the constraints of good storytelling.
A decent, mindless action movie, this is an effective thriller with a somewhat fresh perspective, until the laughable and uninspired final act.
Mortified Nation (2013)
Sometimes in the late 1990s, Dave Nadelberg read his teenage love letters to a group of college friends. Their response was so strong, he organized readings for others to share their journals and high school diaries. Before long, organized Mortified readings sprang up in theaters all over the country.
This documentary features footage from several of the shows along with interviews of the performers and their families who often feature prominently in their tortured attempts to understand their lives.
This film is awkward and uncomfortable, especially the graphic descriptions of sexual exploits and secret yearnings. Many viewers will be disturbed by the rawness, but if you can see past it you’ll find an honest portrayal of the messiness and frailty of the human condition and our often futile efforts to understand our lives.