Contrived thriller is a weird call for Jake Gyllenhaal
As Netflix’s assembly line of new movies rolls faster and faster in its effort to win the streaming turf wars, the films are looking cheaper and cheaper.
But never more so than “The Guilty.” Starring Jake Gyllenhaal and directed by Antoine Fu- qua of “Training Day,” it’s basically a loud old radio play.
There is but a single change of scenery over 90 sledgehammering minutes: The actor moves from his desk in one room to — wait for it — a desk in another room. And, as Gyllenhaal plays a 911 emergency dispatcher named Joe, most of the movie is spent on the phone. He talks to co-workers a few times, usually to at them before returning to scream the phone.
Joe is a Los Angeles cop who’s temporarily working at the call center while he’s on trial for something he did on the job. It does not take brilliant analytical skills to figure out what that act could be.
In an overly theatrical bit of plotting, this is Joe’s last shift at the office. His final day in court is in the morning, and he expects a favorable verdict and to return to his former beat. Well, the film’s title isn’t “The Not Guilty,” but we’ll play along.
Tonight, though, Joe barks impatiently at most of the callers, until he gets one from a quivering woman in a car he surmises has been abducted.
While he emotionally attempts to locate her, he rings her house and discovers her young daughter and son have been abandoned.
Then, Joe goes rogue and puts countless lives at risk.
Directed by Fuqua, “The Guilty” is never boring, but halfway through you’ve just had enough of it.
The larger issue is that you don’t believe much of what’s going on. Ever. Let’s start with the setup: Of all the places to put a cop awaiting trial, the 911 call center? Really? Seems like a liability to me! And the emergency calls, more often than not, don’t ring true. They sound staged, stilted, too convenient.
And a full scene with another actor or two with well-developed characters would be nice.
Of pinching pennies, I, the juror, find Netflix . . . guilty!
Running time: 90 minutes. Rated R (language). In theaters and on Netflix.
— Johnny Oleksinski