Call Me (1988)
After agreeing to meet an obscene caller at a bar, a young New York reporter witnesses a murder and becomes an unwilling player in a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse.
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Spoiler alert. It's a taut, at times gripping, thriller with a limited but well spent budget. The cinematography is solid and not a little stylish. The production design is quirky (vertical fish tanks) and plays with an emotive color palette. The leads are attractive and effective. One sequence, however, belongs in the pantheon of memorable screen moments. It involves a a stranger's phone call, an orange, a beautiful woman and a very surprised observer. The audience squirms in embarrassment. Friends who have viewed "Call Me" still leave single oranges as gifts to others in the know. It's not in the same league as, say, "Don't Look Now", but it's definitely worth your time.
Diverting and fun, with a few thrills thrown in. Mixes two plot lines cleverly, if with a little too much coincidence! Very atmospheric with hidden corners of New York City, especially at night. A really cool, nicely executed look - sort of film noir in color. Good work by the DP and production & costume designers. (look at all the oranges & blues)Fun cast - young Steve Buscemi, David Strathairn, Boyd Gaines (double Tony winner on B'way!), Patti D'Arbanville. Patricia Charbonneau is attractive in the lead, and Stephen McHattie is coolly creepy as the chief baddie.Not great, but a solid B movie - a guilty pleasure. (It's even a little erotic - but watch out for strong language, if you're squeamish about 'bad' sex words.)
"Call Me" is all about Anna (Charbonneau) who is smart enough to be a NYC newspaper columnist but not smart enough to hang up on an obscene phone caller. A lame B-flick which smacks of indieness and amateurish autuersmanship features a mediocre performance by Charbonneau, Strathrain for a heartbeat, Buscemi in a bit part, poor production value, and a hokey script/screenplay. Just more flotsam bobbing on broadcast. (C-)
Reasonably entertaining thriller, which maintains an intriguingly ambiguous atmosphere for at least its first hour, when you don't know who might turn out to be a villain and how the two parallel plotlines are going to merge. The director also makes good use of the N.Y locations, but the story is filled with too many coincidences and improbabilities. An early showcase for the talent of Steve Buscemi. (**1/2)