The Caller (2008)

An energy business exec is assisted by a private investigator in his effort to expose his corporation's corrupt practices.

Director:

Richard Ledes

Writers:

Alain-Didier Weill, Richard Ledes

Stars:

Axel Feldmann, Grégory Ravary Ellis, Jean Brassard

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Axel Feldmann	...	Young Jimmy
Grégory Ravary Ellis	...	Lulu (as Grégory Ellis)
Jean Brassard	...	Young Jimmy's Father
Marion Servole	...	Young Jimmy's Mother
Frank Langella	...	Jimmy
Devin Luke	...	Limo Driver
Edward James Hyland	...	John Pierce (as Edward Hyland)
Corey Johnson	...	Paul Wainsail
Chris McKinney	...	Jack Cross
Elliott Gould	...	Turlotte
Edoardo Ballerini	...	Teddy
Robert Bagnell	...	Jeff
Chandler Williams	...	Sammy
Anabel Sosa	...	Lila
Helen Stenborg	...	Jimmy's Mother

Storyline

France 1944: during an aerial bombardment, two boys are separated from their parents; the older one helps the younger. Jump ahead to contemporary Manhattan where chief financial officer Jimmy Stevens punishes his company's murderous practices in Third World countries by setting up its stock release to fail. He knows they'll kill him in retaliation; he asks for two weeks. By telephone, using a voice disguising device, he hires a private detective, Frank Turlotte, to watch ... Jimmy. What's going on? Jimmy goes to the park where he reads a book and talks to children; he visits his aged mother. Frank observes it all. The two-week deadline approaches. What's Jimmy's game?

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Plot Keywords:

detective | telephone | france | deadline | murder

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Taglines:

We All Want To Call The Shots

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some violent images

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 February 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

On the Hook

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Chapeau Films, Belladonna Productions, Olive Press Cinema

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The silent movie playing on the TV is _Nosferatu (1922)_.

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Goofs

The device Mr. Stevens plugs into his phone to morph his voice when talking to Frank is actually a power adapter for the iGo charger.

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Connections

Features Nosferatu (1922)

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Soundtracks

"Bebop For Tenor"
Composed by Thaddeus Hillary
Courtesy of 5 Alarm Music

User Reviews

Wretched waste of time

A great film for film students to watch as it's been said one can learn the most from the most bungled projects. The endless use of trite symbolism, pointless bits of plot, total lack of character development make this a mess based on someone's unedited, overloaded psyche.

What might suck you in as it did me, is that Langella and Gould are fine actors and always interesting to look at. As you get further into the movie you may find yourself watching to see if the write's/directors can top themselves with corny, sentimental symbols and pseudo-deep meaning gobbledegook.

Wow, one of the thugs is watching a movie on TV about blood and horror. How many times have we seen that f trope? Wow, one of the main characters likes children....what a heckuva guy! Wow, someone feels guilty for helping a corporation kill innocents in pursuit of profit (when does that ever happen in real life?). Elliot Gould and Frank Langella have cut their credibility in half with me (though everyone should see him as Nixon) for taking whatever money they took to star in this thoroughly inept, amateurish tangle.