''For a Good Time, Call...'' is a 2012 American

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending ( black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by

Jamie Travis Jamie Travis (born August 13, 1979) is a Toronto-based filmmaker who has written and directed award-winning short films, music videos and television commercials. He received international recognition for his two short film trilogies, ''The Patter ...

. It stars

Ari Graynor Ariel Geltman Graynor (born April 27, 1983) is an American actress, known for her roles in TV series such as '' I'm Dying Up Here'', ''The Sopranos'' and ''Fringe'', in stage productions such as '' Brooklyn Boy'' and '' The Little Dog Laughed'', ...

, Lauren Miller Rogen,

Justin Long Justin Jacob Long (born June 2, 1978) is an American actor, comedian, director and screenwriter. Long is known for his film roles, notably appearing in '' Jeepers Creepers'' (2001), ''Dodgeball'' (2004), '' Accepted'' (2006), '' Idiocracy'' ( ...

Sugar Lyn Beard Stephanie Lyn Beard (born August 27, 1981), better known by her stage name Sugar Lyn Beard, is a Canadian actress and radio personality. Her radio host persona uses the name "Suga BayBee", and as co-host of YTV's '' The Zone'' from 2001–2007, ...

Mimi Rogers Miriam Rogers (née Spickler; born January 27, 1956) is an American actress. Her notable film roles are ''Gung Ho'' (1986), '' Someone to Watch Over Me'' (1987), '' Desperate Hours'' (1990), and ''Full Body Massage'' (1995). She garnered the grea ...

Nia Vardalos Antonia Eugenia Vardalos (born September 24, 1962) is a Canadian actress, director, producer and screenwriter. She is best known for starring in and writing the romantic comedy film '' My Big Fat Greek Wedding'' (2002), which garnered her nominat ...

, Mark Webber, and

James Wolk James Wolk (born March 22, 1985) is an American actor. He is known for his starring roles in the CBS comedy series ''The Crazy Ones'' (2013–2014), the AMC period drama series ''Mad Men'' (2013–2014), the CBS drama thriller series ''Zoo'' (20 ...

. The film premiered at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,6 ...

in January, 2012 where it secured a worldwide distribution deal with

Focus Features Focus Features LLC is an American film production and distribution company, owned by Comcast as part of Universal Pictures, a division of its wholly owned subsidiary NBCUniversal. Focus Features distributes independent and foreign films in t ...

. It was released theatrically in the United States on August 31, 2012.

Plot

After Lauren is dumped by her boyfriend, she can't afford a place of her own. Her friend Jesse tells her of a beautiful apartment by

Gramercy Park Gramercy ParkSometimes misspelled as Grammercy () is the name of both a small, fenced-in private park and the surrounding neighborhood that is referred to also as Gramercy, in the New York City borough of Manhattan in New York, United States. ...

, not including the fact that his friend Katie lives there. The women had a bad experience together back in college. Despite their clear disdain for each other, they move in together for lack of better options. One night, Lauren hears strange noises from Katie's room. Believing she is being attacked, she opens the door to see Katie is saying sexually explicit things on the phone. Katie explains she works as a

phone sex Phone sex is a conversation between two or more people by means of the telephone which is sexually explicit and is intended to provoke sexual arousal in one or more participants. All parties participate voluntarily; it is typically accompanied ...

operator, as her writing does not earn her enough money to live in New York. Lauren is disgusted, but makes some suggestions how to make more money. Several weeks go by, and Lauren loses her publishing job when her boss retires. Encouraging Katie to get a land line, 1-900-mmmhmmm, Lauren becomes her business manager as they go into business for themselves, which is much more lucrative. In a few weeks they make $12,000, of which Lauren gets , which increases when she becomes a phone operator herself. In the process, they become close friends. Throughout the film, Katie speaks with a repeat customer named Sean and the calls become less about phone sex and more about getting to know one another. They agree to meet, but accompanied by Lauren and Jesse who are concerned he may be a rapist. However, they discover they are very well suited and begin a relationship. This leaves Katie feeling distressed as it is revealed that she is a virgin and has been lying for many years to cover up her insecurities. Lauren gets an interview at a prestigious publishing company which previously rejected her, and Katie convinces her to do the interview to blow them off. She tells them she has been running a phone sex line all summer, and they offer her the job as they feel she has business savvy. Concerned about long-term prospects, Lauren accepts the job which angers Katie to the point where she reveals their business to Lauren's conservative parents. Lauren moves out and they stop speaking. Lauren's ex-boyfriend Charlie returns from Italy and declares that he made a mistake in breaking up with her. He reveals that he had a passionate love affair with a fiery Italian woman, but if he is to succeed in his business he needs someone boring, predictable and simple - the same reasons he dumped her. She stands up for herself and leaves Charlie for good. Meanwhile, Katie and Sean decide to have sex and in order to calm their nerves they talk on the phone while lying next to each other in bed. When they are finished Katie feels sad that she can't share this news with Lauren, whom she loves. Sean encourages her to call her, and they declare that they 'think' they love each other. Lauren and Katie call each other at the same time, engaging in a phone conversation full of unintentional innuendo before they meet each other on the street and hug.

Cast

as Katie Steele * Lauren Miller Rogen as Lauren Powell *

as Jesse *

as Krissy *

as Adele Powell *

Don McManus Don McManus (born November 8, 1959) (sometimes credited as Don R. McManus) is an American character actor of film and television. He became better known after his performance as Duncan in the ''Seinfeld'' episode “The Race”. Born in San Dieg ...

as Scott Powell *

as Rachel Rodman * Mark Webber as Sean *

as Charlie *

Seth Rogen Seth Aaron Rogen (; born April 15, 1982) is a Canadian-American actor, comedian and filmmaker. Originally a stand-up comedian in Vancouver, he moved to Los Angeles for a part in Judd Apatow's series '' Freaks and Geeks'', and then got a part ...

as Captain Jerry *

Kevin Smith Kevin Patrick Smith (born August 2, 1970) is an American filmmaker, actor, comedian, comic book writer, author, YouTuber, and podcaster. He came to prominence with the low-budget comedy buddy film '' Clerks'' (1994), which he wrote, directed, ...

as Cabbie *

Martha MacIsaac Martha MacIsaac (born October 11, 1984) is a Canadian actress. She has appeared in several feature films, including ''Superbad'' (2007), '' The Last House on the Left'' (2009), '' Dead Before Dawn'' (2012), and, most recently, ''Battle of the Se ...

as Inmate *

Ken Marino Kenneth Joseph Marino (born December 19, 1968) is an American actor, comedian, director, and screenwriter. He was a cast member on MTV's ''The State'' and has starred in shows such as '' Party Down'', '' Marry Me'', ''Burning Love'', and '' Chil ...

as Harold

Production

Lauren Miller Rogen and Katie Anne Naylon based the script on their real-life experiences as college roommates. The role of Katie was written specifically for Ari Graynor. Miller used her performance in ''

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist ''Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist'' is a 2008 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Peter Sollett and starring Michael Cera and Kat Dennings. Written by Lorene Scafaria and based on the novel of the same name by Rachel Cohn and D ...

'' as the inspiration for writing the character, and wrote Graynor a letter asking her to be involved in the production. The letter made Graynor cry. "I got this letter where they talked about what fans they were of my work and how they felt like I was one of the only people out there who could be both sexy and vulnerable and funny all at the same time," she stated.

Filming Cinematography (from ancient Greek κίνημα, ''kìnema'' "movement" and γράφειν, ''gràphein'' "to write") is the art of motion picture (and more recently, electronic video camera) photography. Cinematographers use a lens to focus ...

took place over 16 days in Los Angeles and New York City with a budget of $1.3 million. Miller and Naylon secured financing for the film independently.

picked up the film at the

2012 Sundance Film Festival The 2012 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 19 until January 29, 2012 in Park City, Utah. 64 short films were selected for the festival from 7,675 submissions, including 27 international shorts from 3,592 submissions. Non-competition ...

for $2 million.

James Schamus James Allan Schamus (born September 7, 1959) is an American screenwriter, producer, business executive, film historian, professor, and director. He is a frequent collaborator of Ang Lee, the co-founder of the production company Good Machine, and ...

, chief executive at Focus, cited the film's 'emotionally generous' appeal and word-of-mouth potential as primary reasons for the acquisition.

Reception

''For a Good Time, Call...'' has received generally mixed reviews. It currently stands at a 55% "rotten" rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

. "Brisk, funny, and sweetly raunchy, ''For a Good Time, Call...'' adds to the recent string of R-rated female comedies while serving as an overdue coming out party for the charming Ari Graynor," the consensus reads. ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cult ...

'' claimed, "It's Ari Graynor's movie—she's like

Kate Hudson Kate Garry Hudson (born April 19, 1979) is an American actress and businesswoman. She has received numerous awards and nominations, including a Golden Globe Award, a Critics' Choice Movie Award and a Satellite Award, as well as nominations ...

possessed by the spirit of

Bette Midler Bette Midler (;''Inside the Actors Studio'', 2004 born December 1, 1945) is an American singer, actress, comedian and author. Throughout her career, which spans over five decades, Midler has received numerous accolades, including four Golden Gl ...

. And all the better off for it."

Home media

''For a Good Time, Call...'' was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

and

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of s ...

on January 22, 2013. The DVD features an

audio commentary An audio commentary is an additional audio track, usually digital, consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with a video. Commentaries can be serious or entertaining in nature, and can add informatio ...

by director Jamie Travis, writer Katie Anne Naylon, and stars/producers Miller and Graynor, five

deleted scene A deleted scene is footage that has been removed from the final version of a film or television show. There are various reasons why these scenes are deleted, which include time constraints, relevance, quality or a dropped story thread. A similar o ...

s, and a "look inside" featurette.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack for the film was released by

Lakeshore Records Lakeshore Entertainment Group, LLC is an American independent film production, finance, and former international sales and distribution company founded in 1994 by Tom Rosenberg and Ted Tannebaum (1933–2002). Lakeshore Entertainment is headquar ...

on 28 August 2012. # " Back and Forth" – Operator Please # "I Promise" – Generationals # "Come Alive" –

Hanni El Khatib Hanni El Khatib (born June 8, 1981) is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist songwriter and producer as well as visual director and co-owner of the Los Angeles-based independent record label Innovative Leisure. His 2013 sopho ...

# "Stick Together" – Mack Winston & The Reflections # "Side Saddle" – People Get Ready # "Black Water" – The Dig # "By Your Hand" –

Los Campesinos! Los Campesinos! are a seven-piece indie pop band from Cardiff, Wales, formed in early 2006 at Cardiff University. Though the band formed in Wales, none of the members are Welsh. The band has gone through several lineup changes during their ca ...

# "He Knew" – Chalk & Numbers # "Operator" –

Mary Wells Mary Esther Wells (May 13, 1943 – July 26, 1992) was an American singer, who helped to define the emerging sound of Motown in the early 1960s. Along with The Supremes, The Miracles, The Temptations, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, and ...

# "Flowers Bloom" – High Highs # "Come Come" – Hot as Sun # "Black Water" –

Timber Timbre Timber Timbre is a Canadian music group, featuring Taylor Kirk. The moniker refers to an early series of recordings made in a timber-framed cabin set in the wooded outskirts of Bobcaygeon, Ontario. History Timber Timbre released two albums inde ...

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:For A Good Time, Call... 2012 films 2010s English-language films 2012 comedy films 2012 independent films 2010s buddy comedy films 2010s female buddy films American buddy comedy films American female buddy films American independent films Films directed by Jamie Travis Films scored by John Swihart Films set in New York City Films shot in Los Angeles Films shot in New York City Focus Features films Films about telephony 2012 directorial debut films 2010s American films