L. A. is facing wild fires. Police officer Joe Baylor (Jake Gyllenhaal) has been put on desk duty awaiting resolution to an incident. He is bitter being reassigned to the 911 call center. He takes a dismissive tone to his callers. He gets a strange one from a woman named Emily. She has apparently been kidnapped.
This is a Hollywood remake of a Danish film. Aside from being a copy, this film loses a bit of reality due Gyllenhaal's aggressive portrayal. I don't see how any supervisor would allow him to continue like that. Director Antoine Fuqua probably thought that the material needed some more flashiness and used all the Gyllenhaal acting power available to him. It's overkill. It's still pretty good and the fire adds a nice element to the story. Maybe they could have used some pursuit footage with the fire in the background.
This is a Hollywood remake of a Danish film. Aside from being a copy, this film loses a bit of reality due Gyllenhaal's aggressive portrayal. I don't see how any supervisor would allow him to continue like that. Director Antoine Fuqua probably thought that the material needed some more flashiness and used all the Gyllenhaal acting power available to him. It's overkill. It's still pretty good and the fire adds a nice element to the story. Maybe they could have used some pursuit footage with the fire in the background.