Don’t Pick Up The Phone!!

Hiba & went to see 16 Blocks. But due to traffic we didn’t make it on time. The playing time was the measure we used to choose a movie. The options were “When a Stranger Calls” or “Keeping Mum”. I cannot watch Mr. Bean speaking, so we ended up watching the teens’ thriller.

Alert – Movie Spoiler (but then if you saw the trailer of the movie, you would have seen all the action in it!)

The first half an hour, Hiba I and kept debating if Jill, the babysitter, was beautiful or not. We both agreed that she is a scaredy cat. The girl kept jumping for no obvious reason, and getting startled by everything and anything. Of course it is a movie of music and sound effects, and when there was some dialogue, you wished for the music back! I don't think the dialogue an important aspect in the movie to concentrate on!
The “suspense” was stretched for almost most of the movie's length, that Hiba kept chanting Waste The Bitch! Well… not in those exact words, but the tone of her voice said those words!
As usual, I kept reminding Hiba not to scream, and to expect a sudden move now & then!
The last 15 minutes, all the action started and finished. And of course Jill survived...with the kids.

There were two parts that I liked the most:

1. She calls the police and asks them for help, and the deputy tells her that he really can’t do much and that she is safe inside the house. He tells the terrified girl in a patronizing and bored tone that he will dispatch a police car but it will take about 20 minutes, and if that’s ok with her? My reaction: As if she has a choice you bastard!
2. The ending was good. Unlike other movies, where the lead character goes through an exceptional and taxing ordeal, fights like he/she never fought, runs, jumps, falls over glass and other objects, and still be able to walk the second day as if nothing happened. Jill had a real ending. She had to be hospitalized for her injuries and for her trauma!!

I understood at the end of the movie why its called a Teens' Thriller. There was NO blood! You know people got killed, but you don’t see the actual act of murder or the bodies that made the veteran policemen squeamish! The two bodies you get to see had no blood on them. I guess it’s a movie where they want you to use your imagination!!!

My final verdict: Wait till it comes out on DVD and then rent it when you want light entertainment or you want to scare your kid nephews & nieces! :D