Phone-sex comedy ‘For a Good Time, Call …’ not without its charms

Lauren's uptight; Katie's a free spirit. Lauren needs a place to live; Katie needs a roommate. They're polar opposites, but they're brought together by their gay best friend.

It sounds like a sitcom canceled by The Hipster Channel.

For an agonizing while, it feels that way, too.

But once they get past their initial hatred, the phone-sex comedy "For a Good Time, Call ..." settles into an enjoyable rhythm that does, in fact, make for a good time. Even if it feels as empty and meaningless as the calls to the movie's hotline, 1-900-MMM-HMMM.

Lauren (Lauren Anne Miller, who co-wrote the screenplay) is no barrel of laughs. She and her boyfriend (James Wolk) talk about her sheets' thread count during sex, an uninspired act for which she doesn't even bother to remove her bra. He takes a months-long assignment in Italy so they can have time to evaluate their relationship, which is leaving him "crazy, out-of-my-mind bored." Then she gets fired.

Katie (Ari Graynor, "Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist") is about to lose her fantastic Manhattan apartment. It belonged to her grandmother for decades - Bubbe even died there - but it's no longer rent-controlled, and she can't afford the new lease. Katie describes her days as "just doing a lot of writing, being supercreative." But, as Lauren discovers from the noises coming from down the hall, her main income is generated by a phone-sex line.

Katie only makes a dollar a minute, though, with her bosses taking home the lion's share. Lauren, with plenty of free time on her hands, knows a good opportunity when she sees it. Before long, they strike out on their own and start raking in thousands of dollars a week from their pretty pink phones.

Lauren runs the business end, but she eventually breaks out of her shell and gets in on the dirty talk, too. Because that's the sort of thing uptight people do in the movies.

The duo share a hate-filled history. A decade ago, Lauren was driving a drunken Katie home from a frat party; Katie spilled a cup of her urine (don't ask) on Lauren; Lauren kicked Katie out of the car in a bad neighborhood. But they zoom past that and become besties faster than you can say "plot device."

Along the way, Katie must decide whether to let her favorite caller (Mark Webber) into her real life, while Lauren must choose between having a blast with Katie and accepting her dream career at a publishing house.

It's not a lot to hang a movie on, but that's as close to dramatic tension as things get in "Good Time," which is never as clever, zany or crude as everyone involved would like it to be.

Still, it's a small movie that's not without its charms. And it generates the sort of good will - you want it to be better than it is - that rarely exists outside indie circles. Watching "Good Time" feels so much like being at Sundance, where it debuted earlier this year, you'll catch yourself reaching for your parka and pretentious knit cap.

After a succession of smaller roles, Graynor finally gets a proper showcase. If anyone's casting "The Bette Midler Story" and could wrest the title role from Midler herself, their first call should be to Graynor.

But while she and Miller have a likable enough rapport, Katie and Lauren never feel like real people. The characters are so lightweight, they're nearly blown off the screen by their clients, played by Kevin Smith, Ken Marino and Seth Rogen, Miller's husband, whose pitch-perfect cameo is the movie's highlight.

It's a good thing moviegoers don't have the option of paying by the minute. They'd never hold out long enough to see him.

They'd almost certainly never last until the happy ending.

Contact Christopher Lawrence at
clawrence@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4567.