The Calling (2014)

Too much of everything

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

In a sleepy Canadian town, police inspector Susan Sarandon sees a pattern between a local murder and murders in the surrounding jurisdictions of various men and women who have had their mouths manipulated into odd positions before rigor mortis set in. The victims were all Catholic as well, a clue which leads Sarandon's officer to Father Donald Sutherland, who tells her of the resurrection of Jesus through the sacrifice of 12 willing souls. Video on-demand release looks and feels like so many other films--serial killer genre or otherwise--that each new revelation Sarandon and deputy Topher Grace come upon feels like old news. Sarandon, who (in an identical costume) cannot escape comparisons to Frances McDormand's police chief from "Fargo", tries giving us a complicated woman (she suffers from a bad back, she can't work a cell phone, she lives with her mother, she's seeing a married man), but none of these character quirks adds much to the film's final tally. Director Jason Stone sets up some interesting shots, and the movie might be called a polished piece of work--however, it's too polished with its steely blues and grays. The grisly nature of the crimes is then undercut by black humor which doesn't feel spontaneous (it's too mechanical); and by introducing the killer so early in the narrative, the audience is two steps ahead of the heroine. * from ****

Detective Hazel Micallef (Susan Sarandon) has her emotional problems in a sleepy Canadian town and life is easy and slow until some murders awaken her sensibilities. She notices that the murdered people seem to have their mouths manipulated to mouth words, but what words are being said? More murders confirm this hunch and what is the murderer trying to say? Got your attention now?As I started to watch, I felt this played like a good mystery for FARGO (yes, and snow all over the place, too) and I kept hoping I would hear, "Ya, you betcha" coming from Detective Hazel's lips. Okay, just a thought. But here's another thought: why does the hero always seem to have emotional problems that play upon our "sensibilities?" Huh? Okay, just another thought. This is slow going, but gets us engaged without any hi-speed car chases or fantastic CGI. The reason this engages us is because we are constantly hearing questions about the murders and learn that the murders may be linked to the Bible? Say whaaaat? Okay, now we are fully engaged. Notables: Donald Sutherland, Ellen Burstyn, Christopher Heyerdahl. There is a very big twist at the very end that may have you questioning things……. maybe. Just another thought. But keep in mind: a very big twist. Really big! (7/10) Violence: Yes. Sex: No. Nudity: No. Gruesome scenes: Yes, bloody too. Language: Yes, not much

The Calling (2014)It's weird to see how routine this kind of movie has become. And how obvious the influences are. Take "Fargo" and put it Canada (same snow, some parochial setting, and same kind of earthy woman cop). Then remove all the originality and verve, and you have "The Calling." Serial killers are of course more common in the movies than in real life, thankfully. And they all require weird methods, patterns with exceptions to the pattern, and a single (often painfully solitary) cop on the hunt. Susan Sarandon plays the cop, the good guy if you will, and I actually think she does a great job. If she can't match MacDormand in "Fargo" it's partly or mostly because of the writing and direction. In this movie, director Jason Stone in his first full length film, shows he's still learning. And borrowing from good sources. But we all know the formulae, and need more than that. Where do guys like him get budgets and approvals and a couple of great actors when there are so many talented men—and women!—who have shown more mettle and imagination in the trenches?What remains isn't a disaster, but it's a bit of a trudge. Don't blame Sarandon, who makes it charming overall. There is an intention toward realism here, and yet the scenes are a combination of grotesque and whimsical. The murders are horrible, and beyond probably what is normal horror though I don't really know how the world of murder works. And the people are so homespun and regular, worried about their coffees of course, that they lighten up the whole movie without making it comic. So, it's not, for sure, a disaster. I don't know that I'd call that a recommendation. There are better films of this type out there (without going to the top of the genre with "Silence of the Lambs" and so forth). But there are worse!

Before viewing 2014's The Calling, I did some research on whether or not it had a theatrical release. It did but the screen count was so small that nothing in terms of box office receipts, even registered. Basically, what's being reviewed here is yet again another generically titled thriller (isn't The Calling a band?) with a real good cast and a novice, unknown director to go along with it. That smells like straight- to-DVD right out of the gate. Time to plug in the microwave and fire up the Pop Secret. It's movie night people!Shot entirely in Ontario, Canada, taking place in Ontario, Canada (the town of Fort Dundas to be exact) and having virtually no actors/actresses with any smidgen of a Canadian accent, The Calling subjugates itself as a serial killer vehicle mixing religious mumbo jumbo with the vanity arc of Jack Kevorkian. The proceedings begin by establishing a main character who is an alcoholic, pill-popping, suicidal policewoman (one of the all-time most used cop movie clichés in the book, the protagonist who is quote unquote "battling demons"). Susan Sarandon (as Hazel Micallef) plays said deputy. She lives with her mother, goes through a daily routine where virtually no crime ever occurs in her precinct, and shares her job with a rather pessimistic fellow detective (Ray Green played by Gil Bellows). She also works with a secretary (Katy Breier as Melanie Cartright) who basically exists to answer phones and break the tension by lightening the mood (another heavily used cop movie cliché, I looked it up).As things progress, a series of murders occurs in Fort Dundas (the first set of them in four years) prompting detective Micallef to sense that it's the same person who committed all of them. She eventually acquires a new partner in Ben Wingate (Topher Grace) and so begins an investigation about a killer who is believed to have an interesting set of motives. When this person dispatches their victims, their mouths are left wide open. And along with this sicko's overly creepy MO, the crime scenes involved, are at times uniquely gruesome (a women's neck is virtually cut clean through, a man's stomach is extracted from him and thrown to a bunch of dogs, another dead man lies in a trailer park bed with a serious case of rigor mortis setting in, oy vey!).Essentially, this is a routine thriller that borrows heavily from stuff like 1995's Se7en (the whole crime scene aftermath thing occurs without Se7en's haunting film score) and Fargo (the wintry setting, the identical looking police uniforms, the exterior shots that if you squint hard enough, look as if you're actually watching the Coen brothers 1996 Oscar nominee). There are some effectively chilling moments and I like the fact that "Calling" is a slow burning exercise that really takes its time. However, the antagonist is revealed way too early (Simon played by Christopher Heyerdahl who looks like a cross between a bloodshot Woody Harrelson and Jeff Daniels) and when you find out that his victims actually want to die, well the creepiness and mystery (that existed early on) eventually become a non-factor. As for "Calling's" ending, I won't reveal what happens but I will tell that what's on screen is laughable. It's tacked on and provides a mild shock. But really, it just feels like the filmmakers ran out of fresh ideas.In conclusion, The Calling has decent acting and is passable for a weekend rental (or you could save five dollars by watching Criminal Minds reruns instead). At a running time of 108 minutes, I would "call" 40-45 of them worthy. Result: 2 and a half stars.