The Operator

I have been answering phones for a living for the past 5 years, and the abuse that my co-workers and I take on a daily basis is unbelievable. When I saw this movie, I got a warm feeling inside!! This is how the operators feel when we get abused by customers. I don't like violent movies, but this one was done with good taste, and I would have loved to be in that operator's place. Next time you decide to get abusive to a customer service rep, please watch this movie!! I watch it every time I have a bad day and it instantly makes me feel better! As for the content of the movie, everything was very well done. I never felt any sorrow for the caller, and felt that the operator was justified in everything she did.

Disappointing morality tale disguised as a thriller. Concerns upwardly mobile 31 year-old womanizing, gambling, amoral lawyer who has a bad day, abuses a telephone operator for giving him a wrong number, and then cops hell from her as she uses her access to technology to turn his life upside down (actually I think that's almost word for word from the video cover, come to think of it.)

This film was recommended to me, and although I can't say the topic seemed startlingly original to me, I still expected a bit more from the film. Instead the plot and acting are mediocre, the idea of a karmic telephone operator who wants to free a yuppie lawyer 'from attachment', and the tired way it unravels is just too predictable and drab. I felt sure I'd seen this movie at least twice before with other titles, though I can't for the life of me think which films I'm thinking of. 'Phonebooth'?

In any case, it's not wretched, but it's pretty ordinary. 5.5 out of 10.

It isn't hard to see where this farce is going right off the bat. Gary-the-lawyer-on-the-make is such an SOB you just know he is ready to take a fall. Just how big and how it happens can't be described without spoiling the movie, but the character manages an interesting mix of savvy and desperation as it is revealed to him what kind of hell he is sliding into. He is utterly no match for his antagonist, but the telling point is when he finally realizes that it doesn't matter.

One scene that deserves attention because it elevates this movie above what it otherwise would have been was when Gary, who has gone as low as he can go, turns to a minister for advice. The minister and he know each other because Gary recently had the minister rejected from the jury pool of a case he was defending because his client objected to the fact the man is African. The conversation they have turns out to be meaningful, and comes off as quite genuine.

It is also interesting that "the Operator" is never seen except the briefest of flashes. This shows more restraint than directors usually exercise (or are permitted) in this kind of movie.

The overall result is entertaining, so go see it.

I was pleasured to attend the Dallas Film Festival and saw this film. I did not know what to expect, having been a minor character in the cast. My wife and I completely enjoyed it. Jon Dichter did a great job in putting together a sensitive subject of infidelity and values, mixing it with comedy. It is fast paced and keeps the audience interested.

In Dallas, the thirty-one year old arrogant lawyer Gary Wheelan (Michael Laurence) is a wolf, unfaithful husband and gambler. He works at a law firm and presently he is defending the scum Vernon Woods (Brion James), who has embezzled a large amount from retired people, and Mr. Sloan (Spencer Prokop), who wants to declare his mother senile to administrate her money. Gary wins one bet and when his bookie Doc (Stephen Tobolowsky) pays the amount, he decides to buy a Jaguar betting again. Gary offends a telephone operator and later she returns to him telling that she is Shiva (the destroyer and transformer Deity from the Hinduism) and she will destroy his life. From the next day on, Shiva interferes in Gary's life that turns upside-down and he loses his wife, his car, his credit rating and his reputation. What will happen to Gary?

"The Operator" is a funny and entertaining moralist film with a good but totally unrealistic story. Michael Laurence is excellent in the role of a lawyer so full of himself that leaves his arrogance behind and changes his moral values in the end. The omnipresence of the operator in Gary's life is comical and implausible, but forget the reasonable and have fun. See "The Operator" with low expectation and you may be surprised with an amusing film. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Ligação de Alto Risco" ("High Risk Call")