Within the first few minutes of "Call Me," it is easy to figure this as yet another late-night thriller curiosity that you should only watch late at night. We see a young brunette emerge from the shower, quickly answering the ringing landline phone only to find it is her boyfriend who wants her badly. He asks to meet her at the Polish Bar in New York City. She arrives and finds no boyfriend, only some creeps like a corrupt murdering cop and a murdered transvestite in the bathroom who was only collecting cash. Just another day in New York. As I said, easy to write off yet something strange happens in this film, it pulls you in and you go along for a ride that makes some unpredictable stops along the way.
Patricia Charbonneau (who had her sensational debut in "Desert Hearts") is Anna, a newspaper columnist who writes for a section called "Street Scene." Anna lives all alone in her apartment. Her boyfriend (Sam Freed) acts like a friend who stops by occasionally and they seem to have no sex life. Anna's predicament at the Polish Bar leads to more obscene phone calls from someone she thought was her boyfriend. Now she starts to think the obscene caller is a blonde-haired customer at that bar (Stephen McHattie) who may be embroiled in some bad business involving a crooked cop and a basic crook (Steve Buscemi, whose role here is no different than the one he played in "Fargo"). She can't bring herself to stop talking to the obscene caller, though she also keeps hanging up on him. Anna eventually engages in phone sex involving an orange (cue food items from "9 1/2 Weeks") and then her boyfriend shows up unannounced watching her!
Believe it or not based on the plot description, I was really taken by "Call Me." It is not an overriding success since it tackles some disparate plot elements, including the two hoodlums, the cop, Anna's neighbor who is enamored with her, the neglectful boyfriend who's also a junk food critic, and one too many scenes of Anna's best friend (Patti D'Arbanville) who wears too many layers of clothing. Sure, if "Call Me" had explored the world of phone sex and obscene callers nary the thriller elements, it might have proved to be more psychological. Still, "Call Me" is fascinating and absorbing on a perverse level - a sort of late-night neo noir thriller with an unexpected ending that seems just perfect. The obscene caller is not who we think it is either, and McHattie (who is most arresting in perfectly composed poses and never says much) strikes a nerve - we wonder about him and his allegiance to the criminal underworld. Charbonneau is too naive a journalist and she makes one too many mistakes yet I was entranced by her performance - she makes us care even when she does stupid things (like she could have exited through the bathroom window of that bar to avoid detection after that opening transvestite murder scene). Charbonneau and McHattie occupy a world where nothing is what it seems and if the film followed up on these two fascinating characters, it might have been a boozy noir masterpiece. As it stands, it is an absorbing and perverse noir thriller. Watch it late at night for maximum effect.
