by Adam Ritchie, Contributing Writer
I feel I need to preface this review for you, the reader, by saying that I have not seen the original Dutch movie that The Guilty is based upon. Even if you have knowledge of the original, I will keep this review as vague as possible for those going in unknowingly.
The Guilty is directed by the prolific Antoine Fuqua (Training Day, Southpaw), and starring everybody’s new Leonardo DiCaprio, Jake Gyllenhaal, who plays police officer Joe Baylor. Taken off field duty and assigned to 911 duty whilst, as we learn, awaiting a court trial, Joe receives a call from Emily (voiced by Riley Keough), who has been abducted by her husband Henry (voiced by Peter Sarsgaard). What follows is a coded conversation with Emily and the subsequent frantic assistance Joe tries to give from inside his call room.
Set in Los Angeles during the middle of severe bush fires, Joe finds it tough to get the immediate help he needs due to the LAPD and California Highway Patrol (CHP) being otherwise active on other emergencies, or facing difficulties with the encroaching fire storms.
Having what I think is a frightening amount of detail presented to 911 responders, Joe is able to investigate further, and quickly learns that Emily has a baby and a six-year-old abandoned at home. He turns up the pressure on the local law enforcement to offer help immediately.
Throughout this, we are drip-fed exposition by way of phone calls and close-up shots of Joe’s phone, helping us to understand that our hero has empathy and can relate to the abduction situation as he is estranged from his own daughter due to whatever caused him to be on 911 duty.
Much like the Tom Hardy vehicle, Locke, The Guilty is focused on a singular character talking on the phone, with just a couple of fringe characters from the 911 call room thrown in. Gyllenhaal is undeniably, and probably unsurprisingly, brilliant in carrying this movie for a complete 90 minutes. He is what kept me engaged throughout, more so than some of the directing choices. Not to say it is badly directed, as Fuqua displays some deftness at creating and maintaining suspense, however, the material itself maybe hamstrings some creativity we might typically see from him.
So, after all the above, don’t be disheartened by what I say next. Also, it might be a tad spoiler-ey. I saw the “twist” coming. Not a mile out, but at least 500 yards. It didn’t detract from the experience I had with the film, though, because heck, I picked The Sixth Sense twist two miles out, and I still love that movie. I am definitely recommending you check this out, especially if you already have Netflix, but especially if you are even a casual Gyllenhaal fan. He really is fantastic. It’s a fast-paced 90 minutes and you won’t be asking for that time back unless you’ve seen the original!
Grade: B
You can follow Adam Ritchie on Twitter, Instagram, and Letterboxd