'The Guilty' Review: Jake Gyllenhaal Plays A 911 Dispatcher In Antoine Fuqua's One-Man Show Based On Gustav Möller's Danish Thriller

Arlington TX

04 October, 2021

6:44 PM

Description

By Joe Friar, Fort Worth Report October 3, 2021 Jake Gyllenhaal has no problem keeping an audience captivated for 90 minutes as the actor takes center stage in the remake of Denmark's 2018 Oscar submission "Den skyldige" directed by Gustav Möller with an exceptional Jakob Cedergren in the spotlight. The big difference between the two films is how the actors handle the role. Fuqua also adds an extra layer of anxiety to the script which suites Gyllenhaal's high-strung performance. Working with a bigger budget, Fuqua's film moves away from the dark drabby call center of the Danish thriller for a bigger set that resembles a war room filled with high-definition monitors. Of course, they are used to capture the wildfires outside Los Angeles which are used to intensify the situation at hand, a kidnapped woman, a white van, and a desperate search to find the vehicle before the situation escalates. Officer Joe Baylor (Gyllenhaal) has been temporarily assigned to desk duty; the film slowly unveils the reason as the story progresses. He's stuck answering 911 calls, clearly, a job he's not cut out for after lecturing a caller and then hanging up. But when he receives a phone call that sounds like a wrong number, he immediately recognizes the distress in the woman's frail voice as she pretends to hold a conversation with a young child. The woman, Emily Lighton, is voiced by Riley Keough. She's crying while explaining "I'm out for a drive, sweetie, okay?" which prompts Joe to ask yes or no questions establishing that Emily is not alone and the person with her doesn't know she's called 911. After determining that Emily has been abducted by someone with a weapon, Joe jumps into action, dispatching the California Highway Patrol (CHP) to search for a white van. There are several factors at play hindering the time-sensitive situation. First, the LA fires are making it difficult to find any vehicle. Second, they don't have a license plate number so every white van is a protentional target. And third, Emily's young children are home alone and in possible danger. To read the full article, click here. Fort Worth Report is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization that produces factual, in-depth journalism about city and county government, schools, healthcare, business, and arts and culture in Tarrant County. Always free to read; subscribe to newsletters, read coverage or support our newsroom at fortworthreport.org.