A challenging evening with Netflix in control.
The Guilty
“Broken People save broken people.” Sgt. Denise Wade (Christina Vidal)
Guilt is an uncertain reality passed around by the innocent and the guilty alike. The Guilty does a tense and effective job showing its presence in a 911 call center staffed by demoted detective Joe Baylor (Jake Gyllenhaal), not really the best choice for the delicate phone communications of the guilty or the innocent. Yes, he’s broken and so is almost everyone else, making for a thriller that reveals everyone’s hidden guilt.
The Guilty is the stuff of guilt from the victim who promotes their own torture and cops who shift into perps, the subjects of this thrilling tale. Besides the ambivalence of who’s guilty, the cop drama comments on the flawed nature of those who are investigating guilt and those who embody it.
Joe, just an ordinary Joe cop, gets a 911 call from a kidnapped woman, Emily (Riley Keough), who fools her abductor to think she’s talking to her daughter. Joe is a frustrated cop who condescends to the caller, implying her guilt for her kidnapping. As his character evolves, it morphs into coarse evidence of the pitfalls of speedy judgement.
The Guilty is effective showing not necessarily guilt but the challenge of establishing it. Because Joe isn’t in a crime scene physically, he hasn’t the ability to assess accurately; such limitation allows him to make serious judgement mistakes.
Director Fuqua uses the almost single-setting (large call center with brief bathroom and small calling room) to emphasize the limited evidence Joe can muster. The minimalist production adds to the feeling that none of us is privy to the evidence necessary to judge Emily’s sanity or Joe’s integrity. As Joe faces trial the next day for a crime only slowly revealed, his character is troubled and suffering from anxieties coming at him from all sides. No wonder he’s called a “shit magnet.”
Baylor is an emotional loose cannon bugged not only by dicey and deceitful callers but also by his estrangement from his wife and daughter. Why anyone would put him in a 911 call center is for another discussion. Suffice it to say, he’s a problem for himself and everyone attached to him.
Gyllenhaal is up for the job, slowly boiling as the situation with Emily gets more out of control. Fuqua had similar success with Gyllenhaal in Southpaw: The actor can play a tensed-up, coiled sufferer without much to help himself from sets to actors.
Enjoy a Netflix evening in your safe house.
John DeSando, a Los Angeles Press Club first-place winner for National Entertainment Journalism, hosts WCBE’s It’s Movie Time and co-hosts Cinema Classics. Contact him at JohnDeSando62@gmail.com
The Guilty
Director: Antoine Fuqua (Training Day)
Screenplay: Nick Pizzolatto (True Detective), Based on Danish film Den
Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler), Voice of Riley Keough (Mad Max Fury Road) Skyldige
Run Time: 1h 30m
Rating: R
