Sarandon can't save the dull, cliched mystery thriller "The Calling"The notion of a Christian serial killer is intriguing, though you wouldn't know by the unoriginal new mystery "The Calling," a Canadian film that seems a cross between a humorless "Fargo" and a "CSI" episode mixed with a little bit of "Seven." Even a top-notch cast and a handful of creepy moments can't stop the number of cliches the second-rate script throws at its audience. Detective Hazel Micallef (Susan Sarandon) hasn't had much to worry about in the sleepy town of Port Dundas until a string of gruesome murders in the surrounding countryside brings her face to face with a serial killer driven by a higher calling. "The Calling" Directed by Jason Stone in his feature film debut, "The Calling" is one of those mystery films in which you know who the killer is (played an admittedly creepy actor named Christopher Heyerdahl who had a minor role in the "Twilight" films), so the real suspense is the motive for the killer's crimes, which is unraveled under a load of cliches that even a believable character actress like Sarandon can't save (is it always a given that the killer must drive an old run down American-made car and wear black?); it doesn't help Sarandon is paired with "That 70s Show" Topher Grace, one of the most vanilla of actors who pales next to Sarandon. Likewise, Oscar-winner Sarandon is upstaged by another Oscar-winner, the always lovely Ellen Burstyn, who pops in and out of scenes like she's in a sitcom, and Donald Sutherland is great a talky priest in his very brief screentime, who essentially explains the killer's motive in a few sentences. "Seven" and even the darkly comic "Fargo" did this much better, so you're better off watching either one of those than the mildly absorbing yet bland and unoriginal "The Calling."
Wes's Grade: C+
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