Jimmy Stevens, a senior VP at an international energy firm, blows the whistle on his company's deadly and corrupt practices in Latin America. Knowing he will be assassinated for his betrayal, he places an anonymous call securing the services of private detective Frank Turlotte to trail him from a distance.
We're left to wonder why we're watching Gould scramble for clues to a mystery we've been given the solution to.
– Aaron Hillis,
Village Voice,
10 Feb 2009
rotten:
The Caller is a loopy, talky, 92-minute two-hander with Elliott Gould and Frank Langella (on a downward spiral following his juicy triumph in Frost/Nixon), written and directed by a force to forget called Richard Ledes.
– Rex Reed,
New York Observer,
11 Feb 2009
rotten:
There's a vaguely appealing elegance to the way the film moves -- that is, when the actors stop spouting laughably portentous dialogue long enough for one to appreciate the film's pacing.
– Karina Longworth,
Time Out New York,
11 Feb 2009
rotten:
A corporate crime drama that runs fatally amok.
– Stephen Holden,
New York Times,
13 Feb 2009
rotten:
IF Frank Langella hadn't received an Oscar nomination for "Frost/Nixon," it's pretty doubtful that an opaque oddity like Richard Ledes' The Caller would have managed even a one-week vanity booking at the Quad.