The Guilty

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,

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.

Director Antoine Fuqua also did his best with the screenplay he had, and created the perfect amount of non-stop tension and suspense - also due to Jake Gyllenhaal's outstanding performance. The cinematography and score were also on point, and the 90 min runtime and pacing just right. But the story itself was just nothing spectacular and easily forgettable - and written better in other 911 films. There were also too many plot and technical issues, and unrealistic actions and procedures taken by both the police and 911 operators. It's a generous 7/10 from me.

The movie is not a 7.

The movie with Jake Gyllenhaal is a 7. This man is the most underrated gem in Hollywood.

I haven't seen the original, but this movie is good enough. With amazing performance by effectively the only actor in the movie.

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!)