The Caller

Tribeca Film Festival Review

TedFlicks Rating:

$10.00 ticket on a scale of $0 to $10.50.

A Parallax View of The Conversation

“The Caller,” a Tribeca Film Festival world premiere from Belladonna Productions, is billed as film noire. It is, but the characterization does not do it justice. It uses the conventions of the genre to paint a suspenseful yet elegiac portrait of impending death.

Plot centers on the last two weeks in the life of Jimmy Stevens (Frank Langella), senior VP at E.N. Corporation, an international energy concern. Stevens estimates the energy consumption of developing nations in order for energy providers to plan their capacity. A high estimate means more construction work for the builders of energy infrastructure, of which E.N. is a major player. Stevens’ job is to goose the numbers.

Stevens suffers an attack of conscience. E.N. not only fakes the numbers, but it also shoots the locals who protest its projects. He sends corrected estimates and the video of a mass murder by E.N. to construction financiers the World Bank and the IMF, leaving a trail that he knows will put him next on the hit list.

The two weeks are a bizarre stay of execution. Told by his hit man, Teddy (Edoardo Ballerini as a washed-up artist who moonlights as a contract killer) that his time is up, he negotiates for more by threatening to expose E.N. to the press and the FBI.

Pic’s one flaw is the preposterous premise. The corporate death squad as a dramatic device is handled much better in last year’s “Michael Clayton.” The negotiation between target and hit man of “In Bruges” is hilarious. Hit men do not normally negotiate. “The Caller” is sort of the love child of Alan J. Pakula’s “The Parallax View” and Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Conversation.” One really must buy conspiracy theory to accept it. However, excellent craftsmanship and storytelling overcome the weak premise. A taught screenplay by helmer Richard Ledes and Alan-Didier Weill, firm direction by Ledes, and tight editing by Madeleine Gavin underscore superb performances by Langella and co-star Elliott Gould, here birdwatching private eye Frank Turlotte, a retired NYPD detective.
Gould is pic’s sparkplug. It is a joy to see him running on all eight cylinders. He has lost some weight and looks fantastic. There are flashes of his Philip Marlowe from Robert Altman’s “The Long Goodbye.” His Turlotte is hired by Langella’s Stevens to investigate Stevens — That’s not a joke. It works to set up pic’s revelations. It is as if Stevens is documenting his own demise, but Turlotte does not figure it out until about three quarters of the way through pic’s 95 minutes, whereupon he quits.

There’s a hitch, however, and it unfolds in classic film noire style. Black and white flashbacks of France in the Second World War reveal two boys, Lulu (Grégory Ellis) and Jimmy (Axel Feldman) on the run from the Germans. Lulu, the tough kid, is a Jew. He sits with a dying man in the forest so that he will not die alone. It left an indelible impression on Jimmy.

Fast forward to the present in New York. The contrast between Langella’s restraint, almost weariness, as Stevens and Gould’s force provide much of the dramatic tension. As clues unfold, far more character is revealed than the initially one-dimensional Stevens lets on. Most telling is the park bench conversation with young Lila (Anabel Sosa), daughter of a cleaning lady whose private schooling Stevens sponsors, wherein he recounts Lulu’s courage in the face of death. A few scenes featuring the voluptuous, attractive, Mexican Laura Harring as Stevens’ “sophisticated lady” are touching.

But the touchstone for pic’s explosive action is a scene between Gould and Sosa which the child duly steals. She repeats Stevens’s story about the two boys and the dying man in 1944. Turlotte asks a question. “Are you deaf?” she replies. “Completely,” he says in a classic Elliott Gould moment. It is Turlotte’s sudden realization that Stevens is the boy he knew in the forest in 1944. It also confirms audience suspicion that Turlotte and Lulu are the same.

Pic’s payoff is completely satisfying. His two week stay ended, Stevens has given his exposé to the media. He willingly accompanies his hit man to Red Hook. Turlotte “borrows” a friend’s boat and races to the scene. It comes down to a matter of seconds for a story that began in 1944 to come full circle almost 65 years later.

Tech credits excel. Lensing by Stephen Kazmerski hits all the right notes, and original music by Robert Miller is a good fit. Supporting players turn in excellent work. Dialogue is predominantly English. French portions carry English subtitles. Pic is not yet rated. Other than violence and a few coarse words, there is nothing objectionable for children. It’s 95 minutes fly by.

—30—

Editor’s Note: As of this posting (24 November 2009) “The Caller” has had only limited release in the US where it scored a PG13 rating) and a film festival screening in Brazil. It’s a shame. It’s a fabulous movie, and it is a joy to see Elliott Gould back at the top of his game. -T.F.