Culpable

As has been said this was a remake of a Danish film. I haven't seen the Danish film but I have seen something very similar although forget what and when.

Jake G. Puts on a powerful and somewhat over dramatic performance. I say over dramatic because there is a huge mismatch between his acting and eveyone else's and it shows. The gap was far to wide to ignore. From yelling at more senior and experienced staff to throwing expensive equipment around and no one challenged him on it except for a feeble demand for respect from his sergeant, and I do mean feeble and it didn't last long.

This really was a one man show and boy did he put on a show. Unfortunately everything else was just filler to drive it along for another Joe moment. Sure to please Jake fans and I did enjoy seeing top class talent which he is.

I gave it a 6 because it didn't get me where it should have,

This story follows the world's most incompetent crisis negotiator, Joe, as he attempts to keep a situation from getting out of hand. When I say incompetent, I mean that thanks to Joe's endless blunders and impulsive behavior, this movie was just one soundtrack away from being a dark comedy. Instead it got labeled a thriller due to the thrill the of pure rage the audience feels as they watch Joe pick one poor choice of words after another.

The acting was pretty good and the story was new to me. The fact that Fuqua was able to make a movie like this from virtually one location and on such a frugal budget is pretty impressive, but come prepared to yell at Joe for being more than a little useless for an hour and a half.

Jake Gyllenhaal once again proves how good of an actor he is, especially a character actor. He plays this role, Joe Baylor, a 911 phone operator with such intensity has he battles inner struggles alongside the torment of an abduction. For me the film isn't as entertaining as it is without Gyllenhaal in the lead role. Others may disagree but this reminded me slightly of his performance in 'Prisoners' in which he plays a detective battling similar demons.

I really enjoy films that take place in one location as it immerses you more into the narrative and I think director Antoine Fuqua (Training Day, The Equalizer) does a very good job in keeping the tension centred around Gyllenhaal's character.

I don't think the writing is anything spectacular, it's really Jake Gyllenhaal's performance as well as some stellar voice acting via the phone calls that carry the film.

It's an enjoyable watch that I had a good time, albeit it wasn't a great film, but it had a great performance from a great actor.

Great.

JametGylenhaal is an amaziy actor, he's able to enthral an audience for the entire 90 minutes when all focus is on him, virtually 99% of the movie.

This movie was shot in 11 days, which is impossible to believe. JG was able to hone in on his character in such a short amount of time, you're able to sense his anguish, his feelings throughout the movie - not just from a well written script, but his facial expressions, his demeanour, his body - make no mistake JG 'owns' this movie and OWN it he does....!!!

I watched the Netflix film first, and then thanks to the reviews here, discovered the Danish original and watched that too.

The Netflix film is a taught and effective thriller, with a great central performance from Jake Gyllenhaal. It's mostly word-for-word the same as the Danish version. And it's free if you have Netflix!

The Danish version is £2.99 on Amazon. It's less stylish and less melodramatic, but much more believable and affecting. I cared more for all the characters, and despite knowing exactly how it was going to play out, I was hooked throughout. At times I couldn't look away.

The Netflix film adds an unneccesary personal arc, some wildfire-related melodrama, and a set more like a James Bond MI5 office than a 911 (or 112) call centre - all of which reduced the impact and made the film less engaging.

If you're definitely not going to watch the Danish version, the Netflix one is a good bet. If you're ok to watch either, choose the original - it's a lot more suspensful and completely captivating. (Ideally, unlike me, don't watch both!)