Movie Reviews by Michael Phillips

For a Good Time, Call Movie Review & Trailer

It's "Bells Are Ringing," only with a significant percentage of dialogue that cannot be quoted here unless we agree on dollar-per-minute terms in advance.

In the raunchy but rather sweet new comedy "For a Good Time, Call ..." frenemies-turned-roommates Lauren and Katie, residents of Manhattan, learn what they could've learned simply by watching Julianne Moore in "Short Cuts." Bills to pay? Talk dirty to the customers.

Katie's the one with the fabulous apartment. She's played by Ari Graynor. Lauren Miller, who co-wrote the script with Katie Anne Naylon, slips easily into the role of Katie's odd-couple opposite, who scoffs initially at her roommate's line of work. Then, impressed by the revenue and thwarted in her own job hunt, she becomes business manager. And then a phone sex operator herself.

There are many things to like in this film, directed by feature film first-timer Jamie Travis, though Travis' direction -- neither stylized enough to be stylish, nor fluid enough to get two or three people in the same frame often enough -- isn't one of those things. When one of the main character's sexual resume turns out to be something of a surprise, it's actually an interesting one, beneficial to the honesty and the feeling of the central relationship. The script's more predictable comedy of explicitness (Lauren's parents coming over for a visit at an awkward moment, for example) at least isn't forced into outsized farce; at its best, "For a Good Time, Call ..." glides along and pays attention to what might actually make these two disparate characters genuine friends.

Though she's a 110-percenter, always giving a little too much, Graynor offers a bratty effrontery that contrasts effectively with Miller's more contained and brittle persona. Justin Long as the go-between, brokering the roommate situation when the plot calls for it, keeps 'er moving every second.

Seth Rogen, among others, contributes a cameo as a customer. Uneven and a little strident, the results never take off into the stratosphere. But even if the film should be retitled "For a Fairly Good Time, Call ..." at least we're not back on the couch with another variation on the same old group of arrested-development young adult males, hanging on to their adolescence with as much determination as their marijuana intake allows.

For a Good Time, Call ... - 2.5 Stars

MPAA rating: R (for strong sexual content throughout, language and some drug use).

Running time: 1:26.

Cast: Ari Graynor (Katie Steel); Lauren Miller (Lauren Powell); Justin Long (Jesse).

Credits: Directed by Jamie Travis; written by Katie Anne Naylon and Lauren Miller; produced by Jen Weinbaum, Josh Kesselman, Katie Ann Naylon and Lauren Miller. A Focus Features release.

For a Good Time, Call ... Movie Trailer

 

About "For a Good Time, Call ..."

Former college frenemies Lauren and Katie move into a fabulous Gramercy Park apartment, and in order to make ends meet, the unlikely pair start a phone sex line together.

The reserved Lauren (played by Ms. Miller) and the irrepressible Katie (Ms. Graynor) are polar opposites... and past enemies. But when both come up short on the funds needed to afford their dream New York City apartment a mutual friend (Mr. Long) re-introduces them and they reluctantly agree to room together. These apartment-mates have nothing in common -- until Lauren discovers that Katie is working as a phone-sex operator, and recognizes a good business opportunity. But as their business partnership takes off, their newfound friendship finds unexpected challenges that may leave them both, as they say, hanging on the telephone.

"For a Good Time, Call" Movie Review - "For a Good Time, Call" stars Ari Graynor & Lauren Miller

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