My review was written in January 1991 after watching the film on Monarch video cassette.

A gender-variation on "Fatal Attraction", "The Phone Call" is an entertaining near-miss. Direct-to-video release Stateside pulls its punches in dealing with the theme of closet homosexuality.

Michael Sarrazin, who has expertly played screen weaklings since "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" is cast as a happily married computer exec who makes one ruinous mistake.

On the road conducting seminars, he idly takes he advice of a business pal (Vlasta Vrana) and dials up a phone sex service, "The Main Line". He accidentally calls "The MAN Line" and unwittingly has a conversation with ex-con Ron Lea, whose high-pitched voice and effeminate manner fool him.

When Lea finally identifies himself as a man, Sarrazin is shocked, insults him and hangs up. There begins a vendetta, with both class distinction and basic human dignity prime motivators as Lea harasses Sarrazin, demanding an apology.

Matters impact on the smug hero rapidly as Lea, about to be hauled off by security guards, plants a smooch on Sarrazin's lips in full view of Vrana in the hotel. Vrana soon spreads the word, and Sarrazin's boss (Howard Ryshpan) is loath to condone what he assumes is his colleague's hoosexual bent.

At home, Sarrazin unwisely fails to tell his loving wife Linda Smith about his predicament. After a violent altercation in which he gives Lea a lack eye, he returns home to find the ex-con hired by Smith as a handyman and fast friends with their young daughter, Lisa Jskub.

"The Phone Call" becomes far-fetched at this point. Mother and daughter are in danger, yet Sarrazin doesn't act quickly enough. Violent climax is predictable. Scripter Doanld Martin's sidestepping of the sexual issue is clever but robs the film of impact. Since Lea is not depicted as overtly gay, and Sarrazin is simply a wrong number dialer turned on by an ambiguous sounding voice, the plot has no sexual driving force.

This literally lets Sarrazin off the hook, unlike Michael Douglas in "Fatal Attraction", who is definitely unfair to Glenn Close. Instead, the relationships are abstracted. This works effectively to keep the pot boiling, but it lacks resonance.

Greatest benefit here is avoidance of the misogyny characterizing "Fatal Attraction" and its imitators in which a woman is depicted as the heavy.

Lea is impressive as the simultaneously hateful and sympathetic protagonist, while Sarrazin also is solid in basically a two-hander reminiscent of "Sleuth", "The Offence" and "Deathtrap". Tech credits are adequate.

The drama genre is a broad category that features stories portraying human experiences, emotions, conflicts, and relationships in a realistic and emotionally impactful way. Dramas delve into the complexities of human life, often exploring themes of love, loss, morality, societal issues, personal growth, with the aim to evoke an emotional response from the audience by presenting relatable and thought-provoking stories.

Mahershala Ali and Alex R. Hibbert in Moonlight (2016)

The thriller genre features suspense, tension, and excitement. These stories are known for keeping audiences on the edge of their seats and delivering intense emotional experiences by revolving around high-stakes situations, dangerous conflicts, and the constant anticipation of unexpected events.

A married man calls the wrong number for phone-sex and winds up being stalked by a psychotic man.

Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée (CNC)

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