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Excellent adaptation.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

The first must-see film of the year.

"The Phone Call" is a 2013 live action short film that runs for roughly 20 minutes and won the Academy Award that year, a great success for director and writer Mat Kirkby and co-writer James Lucas. The probably biggest reason for this success may have been the very good performances by Academy Award nominee Sally Hawkins and Academy Award winner Jim Broadbent who is only to hear, not to see. A woman works at a call center that helps people who have some kind of problem and this day, she gets a really severe and heartbreaking case. I have to say the script was good too, but it was nowhere near as good as what the two lead actors made of it. All in all, I recommend this short film. It is definitely a pretty good watch, but it's also very depressing from start to finish, even if they tried to make it somewhat uplifting at the very end, so do not give it a go if you are in the mood for something positive. I guess the drama and tragedy are also what resonated most with the Academy Award voters. Recommended.

The Phone Call concerns Heather (Emily Hawkins), a shy, reclusive woman who works as a dispatcher for a crisis hotline. One day, she picks up the phone to hear an elderly man sobbing profusely on the other end. Being the professional that she is, she slowly talks to him and gets him to reveal his current situation. The man states he is "Stanley" (voiced by Jim Broadbent), a man who lost his wife Joan a few years ago and has taken a handful of antidepressants in order to cope with the mental pain. He doesn't want Heather to call an ambulance; he has made up his mind about ending his life and is content with his decision. He just wants companionship before he fades away.This is a somber short film that sneaks up on you with the way Stanley's undying love for his wife comes through, as he tells Heather stories and details about his wife, along with being so content about his extreme decision. Hawkins plays her character wonderfully, exuding shyness and fright, despite keeping her professionalism throughout the entire ordeal, in a profoundly affecting manner. Broadbent, though he is no more than a voice throughout the short, also provides one with spine-tingling urgency, as his voice captivates, giving off each emotion and vocal-quiver with a great deal of sincerity and believability. Directed Mat Kirkby's camera shoots all the right things, in addition, from close-ups on Heather's small, reserved movements or her notes on Stanley, filling the environment with simultaneously unsettling and tranquil vibes.The Phone Call instantly reminds me of Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1, a short documentary which, like The Phone Call, won an Oscar for its respective category. That film showed the daily routines of several dispatchers at a crisis hotline, helping numerous souls, in this case, veterans, who were on the teetering edge of suicide and either needed companionship or some sort of guidance. Judging by these two beautifully-made shorts, the relationship dispatchers form with their callers through the means of a telephone is one that we will likely see develop and grow overtime, and if such an idea is carried out with the kind of heartbreaking realism and brutal honesty these two shorts have depicted, I'm all for it.Starring: Emily Hawkins and Jim Broadbent. Directed by: Mat Kirkby.

'THE PHONE CALL': Four Stars (Out of Five)A 20 minute British short film; which was nominated for an Academy Award, for Best Live Action Short Film, at the upcoming 87th Academy Awards. It stars Sally Hawkins as the dedicated employee of a crisis hotline center, who receives a disturbing phone call from a suicidal caller. She desperately tries to save him. It was directed by Mat Kirkby and written by Kirkby and James Lucas. The short costars Edward Hogg and the voice of Jim Broadbent. I found it to be short (of course) but still effectively moving.Hawkins plays Heather; a rather shy woman, who works as a helpline call center counselor. One day she receives a distressing call; from a man (Broadbent) who sounds extremely depressed. The caller also (eventually) tells her he's swallowed a large amount of pills. Heather tries her hardest to find out who he is, and where he's at, in order to save him.The film is pretty depressing, and not for everyone, but I also found it to be really inspiring; it definitely takes the viewer through a lot of different emotions. It's also surprising how effectively suspenseful it is; I wasn't quite sure how it would turn out. Kirkby co-wrote a pretty insightful and moving script, and he does an even more impressive job bringing it to life. What's most impressive about the short is Hawkin's performance though; too bad they don't give out Oscars for acting in short films!Watch our movie review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: http://youtu.be/WFFIYhYu22M

"The Phone Call" is set at a crisis hotline center. Heather begins her shift by receiving a phone call from a man who is depressed and has taken an overdose of antidepressants. She spends most of the film trying to connect with the guy and determine where he is so that she can send help. Ultimately, it has a super-depressing ending and is not a film most folks would enjoy. While the film is definitely NOT a feel-good film, it has some excellent acting by Sally Hawkins as Heather--and her ability to emote and make the most of scenes where she is essentially acting alone are terrific. Plus, it's interesting to note that the very talented actor, Jim Broadbent, plays the suicidal man. You never see him in the film, but his voice is quite recognizable, as he has a ton of terrific films to his credit.UPDATE: I was a bit surprised by this, but "The Phone Call" won the Oscar. Congratulations.