Sadly Over-hyped

Good movie but grossly overrated

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

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.

'Call Me' is a worthy b-grade thriller for nostalgics. Set in New York City, it is very 80s, replete with a character resembling Iona of Pretty in Pink, and a saxophone-rich soundtrack resembling some of the music heard in Desperately Seeking Susan.Patricia Charbonneau plays main character, Anna. One evening, she receives a phone call from a man who she thinks is her lame boyfriend, Alex (Sam Freed), telling her to meet her at a neighborhood bar. Turned on by his surprising kinkiness, she accepts the invitation. But, while there, she witnesses the death of a transvestite at the hands of a dirty cop looking for money that he was supposed to be given. This puts her in the middle of a world of trouble, and soon enough, her life is threatened for having inadvertently intervened in a scheme involving the dirty cop, double-crossing henchmen (which includes a very young and very pale Steve Buscemi), and what I presume to be a mob boss. She assumes that there is a connection between those involved and the seductive voice on the telephone who she once thought was her boyfriend.The movie is riddle with twists and a few unconvincing plot holes, but it is well paced and a better title for the 80s b-thriller genre.

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.)

****SPOILERS**** Somewhat disjointed but never really boring movie about a big city magazine journalist getting a phone call one afternoon and by thinking that the person on the other end of the line is her boyfriend Alex, Sam Freed. Thus, what seems to me, encourages the caller who may very well have not planned to at first to become more daring and bold then he should or would have been. Asking Anne, Patricia Charbonneau,to meet him at a local watering hole "The Polish Bar" where instead of finding her boyfriend Alex Anne witnesses the murder of a transvestite Presser, John Seitz, by a corrupt police detective Henyk, Olek Krupa. It turns out that the transvestites partner and possibly lover Switchblade, Steve Buscemi, ripped off Det.Henyk as well as his boss, Ernest Abuba of their monthly take. Switchblade's other partner who was in the bar when all this happened Jellybean, Stephen McHattie, had no idea that Switchblade was involved in robbing his boss as well as Det. Henyk who was working for him. Determined to get their money back the hoods deduced that Anna was the one who took the cash since she was in the ladies room at the time when Presser, the transvestite, was murdered and left the bar right after that. The rest of the movie is about Det. Henyk and Jellybean trying to find who the woman is that was with the transvestite at the time of his murder to retrieve their money that they thought that she had. Switchblade also tries to find her but not to get the money that he knew that she didn't have, he did, but to have her silenced so his partners would not suspect that he was involved in robbing them. While all this is happening Anna keeps getting phone calls from her "secret admirer" who not only seems to know everything about her but also seems to be watching her from one of the nearby buildings. Instead of hanging up or calling the police Anna gets so heated up and turned on by the callers phone calls that when Alex catches her in one of those conversations he finds Anna more aroused with the caller on the phone then she ever was with Alex in bed. Alex hurt and humiliated at what he sees, and hears, there and then put and end to his relationship with Anna. Later in the movie when Anna does find out just who this "fishy" admirer who's been calling her really is after she had a one-night stand with him in bed not on the phone. Angrily dumping the slippery eel Anna leaves him all wet for all the trouble that he caused her. Later the "fishy guy" quickly redeems himself by saving Anna's life from both Det. Henyk and Switchblade who found out who she was and where she lived but at the cost of his own life.In the end it turned out that Jellybean the other hood who was completely left out in the cold about what was really going on around him by his cheating partner Switchblade ended up being the man that Anna liked most. As the closing credits started to roll Jellybean seemed to have started some kind of relationship with her which also looks like the start of a beautiful friendship. Very creepy movie that tries to be Hitchcockien with it's characters and Film Noir with it's story but "Call Me" is just too unconvincing to be taken seriously either way.