The Call – Review

 

The call is a movie about a 911 operator (Halle Berry) who answers an intruder call from a teenage girl.  The operator, Jordan, makes a mistake, and in the end, because of that mistake, she hears when the intruder finds the girl and hurts her.  Days later she is found in the woods, brutally murdered.  As fate would have it, Jordan ends up on another call, many months later, with a young girl named Casey, (Abigail Breslin) who has been abducted and is in the back of a car.  Eventually, Jordan realizes it’s the same kidnapper, and knows she has limited time to find Casey, before she suffers the same brutal fate.

The thing that captivated me most about this movie was probably the trailer.  That’s not to say the movie was a let down, but that the trailer posed the question which has continued to stick with me, haunt me even.  It asked (in effect) how far you would go to save someone, if you knew that you were their only hope…and you knew the depths of horror that awaited them if you didn’t?  And how much further might you go if you screwed up the first time and had a second chance, a chance to get it right?

Jordan’s response when she gets a second chance, a chance to save a girl’s life knowing the blood of the last girl is on her hands, is that there is almost nothing she won’t do.  She works tirelessly, creatively, relentlessly and passionately to get Casey to safety.  In the end, she risks her own life to save Casey’s.  And in the end, we know that if it hadn’t been for Jordan, Casey would have died.

Ever since the trailer first came out I started thinking about those questions.  How far am I willing to go to save someone’s soul?  Not that I actually save it, of course, but to tell them about Jesus.  Like Jordan when she answered the first girl’s call, I might do a lot to try to help someone.  I might be really passionate about it and “do my best.”  But Jordan’s “best” changed drastically after she saw the first girl’s fate.  She went to entirely different extremes to save the second one.  What if I actually had a chance to see for myself what eternity was like?  What if I saw Heaven in all its glory and Hell in all its horror?  How much more passionate and committed and desperate would I be to convince people to trust in Jesus if I really, tangibly knew what was in store for them if they didn’t?

What will it take before we, as Christians, really take seriously the salvation of the lost?  Honestly, for myself, I’m not sure.  I am sure however that I am thankful for the Holy Spirit in us that guides us in the way of truth and teaches us.  I’m thankful He resides in me and has the ability to change my heart.  I pray He does until my heart is just as passionate and committed to reaching the lost, the least and the lonely as His.  I may not be able to say how far you or I would go to reach the lost, but I can tell you how far Jesus went…He didn’t just risk His life—He GAVE His life.

Questions for Discussion:

• How willing are you to share Jesus with others?
• What does it cost you to share Jesus?  (What are the things which make it difficult for you?)
• How might that change if you really, really knew what Heaven and Hell were like?
• How do you feel about those people who are “die hards” when it comes to sharing their faith?  You know the types, those who have to share Jesus with every person they see, they carry tracts every where they go…  etc.  How do you feel about them, and what do you think makes them so passionate about evangelism?
• Jordan didn’t go out looking for people to help; they called her and asked her for help.   Do you think that it makes a difference in sharing your faith is the other person is “seeking” answers, vs. if they think they are doing good like they are?  Or is it enough just for you to know that they are “lost”, even if they don’t seem to think so?
• How do you think Jesus would respond to these questions?  How did He handle evangelism (not that He called it that…but you know, telling people they should put their faith in Him) when He was on earth?  Probably worth some careful consideration from those who follow Him!

By Stacey Tuttle