When Murder Calls

Good title. Poor acting. Poor script. Poor directing. Watch something else

source: When Murder Calls

The film reaches its climax. Then before there is a resolution The end credits are rolling. Think the editor must have fallen asleep on the job.

By no means a "good movie" by regular standards, in that it is not original, not terribly suspenseful, not especially memorable or compelling. However, for a TV movie, this was very well made. It is shot well, and acted well. So formulaic in its development that you can see coming every single step this movie takes, mostly because there are only breadcrumbs in this movie. This movie does not volunteer any information that does not pertain to the plot, so every sentence makes it evident to the viewer where this is going. This ranks MUCH higher than other TV movies I have seen. Is it silly? Sure. But there are lots of movies I've seen before that I would turn off the TV for, if they came on again. With Radio Silence, if my choices were watch again or turn the TV off, I'd see it again. Make of that what you will, in terms of recommendations.

Therapist Dr. Jill Peterman (Georgina Haig) is the host of a popular Minneapolis relationship radio show. She is hard on a caller named Alexis who apparently shoots herself on the air. One year later, she is distressed about the incident and refuses to return to radio. She reluctantly restarts her show in part to help her failing producer and in part to better help her callers. She starts doing the show completely differently. Someone claiming to be Alexis calls and Jill starts getting harassed by her. I was waiting for this movie to go bad. Sure, the production value is not that high but I like the stalking. The first half is perfectly fine and Haig is a good actress. There has to be a reason for a rating below 5. Then comes the idiot police. It's always the idiot police. The movie does these hints but they are way too big. It's nice to have some red herrings but I don't like them shoved in my face. The biggest problem is that it runs out of suspects. Finally, there is only one left and the climax is flatter than it ought to be. Still, this is a better murder mystery than most TV murder mysteries.

"When Murder Calls" (a.k.a., "Radio Silence") is a well-produced film, and it is successful in sustaining suspense through scripting, acting, and production values. The central character of Dr. Jill Peterman raises an ethical dilemma that the film explores in depth. That dilemma concerns that ethics that should exist in a popular radio broadcast where "Dr. Jill" dispenses advice in relationships. Her trademark admonition is to break off from a lover, breaking off a relationship when one's needs are not being met. A defining moment in the film is when Dr. Jill is first interviewed by Lieutenant Briggs, a homicide investigator, who never researched an apparent death by suicide that occurred live on the air after Dr. Jill had advised a young woman to "get rid" of her present existence. The caller identifying herself as Alexis evidently took Dr. Jill seriously and shot herself. After listening to Dr. Jill, the female police detective informs her that her own girlfriend dumped her after listening to one of Dr. Jill's spiels to break off a relationship. It is clear that Dr. Jill may have a wide array of enemies, one of whom is likely Lieutenant Briggs. There is multi-dimensional quality to Dr. Jill's character, who feels remorse for not being more sensitive to Alexis. But when her bestie Claire Ashton is murdered, the assailant apparently mistaking Claire for Dr. Jill, our heroine is now on her own with no support from the police for an investigation. The film keeps the viewer guessing with suspects ranging from Dr. Jill's spineless director of programming, Stu Wells; an ambitious sound editor, Li Chan; Brett, who was Dr. Jill's ex-beau and an incompetent security guard at the radio station; and even such characters on the periphery as the gossipy barista, Daisy Reid and the radio's studio's owner, Ron Taylor, who will stop at nothing to boost the ratings. The film's director made use of interesting camera angles for the face of Dr. Jill during her broadcasts, and the actress adopted an intriguing sotto voce approach on the air. The scoring of the film was also creative and helped to solidify the tension that was felt in the snake pit of the studio, as well as the nightmare experienced by a well-meaning, but naive pop psychologist.

The soft night time radio voice in the beginning ought to have told me how boring this would be if I continued. She scolds female callers for being in relationships until one regular says, "ok you're right- I'm done" (not a true quote but basically) and blows herself away on air. They don't leak out she contributed to the suicide because, well media does cover ups (a delay editing out the gunshot) and apparently the family and investigators don't sue when a civil suit is definitely appropriate. So the radio host lives life until a year later when she's plagued with "how do you sleep" being asked of her. Also, she seriously has the nerve to ask her friend if she should not touch stuff so they can dust for prints. She lives unscathed while she provoked the unstable and made a living off it. FYI: if you have an Alexa, she will go off because Alexis is the girl that is killed and also stalking her radio therapist. All around: annoying.

Wow, This is as exciting and interesting as a late radio show about pickling techniques. Do not waste your time as I did. Watching an ant crawl up a wall would be more rewarding and satisfying.

Good title. Poor acting. Poor script. Poor directing. Watch something else

Weak story, stupid ending. Unprofessional Psichologist hosts a radio show. A woman kills herself because of the show. One year later she calls the station. And murders begin... Nothing interesting, boring story.