''Denise Calls Up'' is a 1995 American

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

film written and directed by Hal Salwen. It has an ensemble cast which includes

Liev Schreiber Isaac Liev Schreiber (; born October 4, 1967) is an American actor, director, screenwriter, producer, and narrator. He became known during the late 1990s and early 2000s after appearing in several independent films, and later mainstream Hollywo ...

Timothy Daly Timothy is a masculine name. It comes from the Greek name ( Timόtheos) meaning "honouring God", "in God's honour", or "honoured by God". Timothy (and its variations) is a common name in several countries. People Given name * Timothy (given name) ...

, and

Alanna Ubach Alanna Ubach (born October 3, 1975) is an American actress, known for her roles as Serena McGuire in ''Legally Blonde'' (2001) & ''Legally Blonde 2'' (2003), Isabel Villalobos in ''Meet the Fockers'' (2004), Maria in '' Sister Act 2: Back in the ...

. The plot revolves around a group of friends in New York City who, while working at their PCs and laptops and keeping in touch by phone and

fax Fax (short for facsimile), sometimes called telecopying or telefax (the latter short for telefacsimile), is the telephonic transmission of scanned printed material (both text and images), normally to a telephone number connected to a printer o ...

, never seem to be able to get together. The film won the Jury Prize at the

Deauville American Film Festival The Deauville American Film Festival (french: Festival du cinéma américain de Deauville, link=no) is a yearly film festival devoted to American cinema, which has taken place since 1975 in Deauville, France. It was established by Lionel Ch ...

and a Special Mention for the

Camera d'Or A camera is an optical instrument that can capture an image. Most cameras can capture 2D images, with some more advanced models being able to capture 3D images. At a basic level, most cameras consist of sealed boxes (the camera body), with a ...

at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

Plot

Linda wakes up one morning to her ringing phone. Her friend, Gale wants to know how her party went last night. To her dismay, Linda tells her that no one showed up, "not a one." Thus begins ''Denise Calls Up'', the story of seven friends living in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

who no longer find it necessary to actually meet face to face due to the new age of the internet and wireless phones. But Gale is less upset about the absolute absenteeism, than about the fact that her friend Barbara never got to meet Jerry. Gale has been trying to set them up. So she calls Barbara, chastising her for not making it to Linda's and goading her into meeting Jerry. After protesting that she's just been too busy, Barbara eventually acquiesces. Meanwhile, Denise, who has gotten pregnant by an anonymous sperm insemination, locates the donor, Martin, and decides to call him. And so it goes, as the characters, via phone and fax, duck and miss each other time after time, using one excuse after the other to avoid meetings, births, and even a funeral until, finally, Frank, determined to finally get everyone together, plans a New Year's Eve party. All swear that they will be there.

Cast

Tim Daly James Timothy Daly (born March 1, 1956) is an American actor. He is known for his role as Joe Hackett on the NBC sitcom ''Wings'' and his voice role as Clark Kent/Superman in '' Superman: The Animated Series'', as well as his recurring role as ...

as Frank Oliver * Caroleen Feeney as Barbara Gorton * Dan Gunther as Martin Weiner *

Dana Wheeler-Nicholson Dana Wheeler-Nicholson (born October 9, 1960) is an American actress and singer best known for her roles in the films '' Fletch'' (1985), '' Tombstone'' (1993), ''Fast Food Nation'' (2006) and '' Parkland'' (2013). She is also known for her role ...

as Gale Donelly *

as Jerry Heckerman ** Hal Salwen as young Jerry *

Aida Turturro Aida Turturro ( ; born September 25, 1962) is an American actress. She is best known for her portrayal of Janice Soprano on the HBO drama series ''The Sopranos''. Early life and education Aida Turturro was born in Buffalo, New York, daughter of ...

as Linda *

as Denise Devaro *

Sylvia Miles Sylvia Miles (née Scheinwald; September 9, 1924 – June 12, 2019) was an American actress. She was twice nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performances in ''Midnight Cowboy'' (1969) and '' Farewell, My Lovel ...

as Sharon, Gale's Aunt *

Jean-Claude La Marre Jean-Claude La Marre is a Haitian-American actor, writer, and director. His acting credits include the films ''Malcolm X'' and ''Dead Presidents''. On television, he has guest-starred on ''New York Undercover'', '' Law & Order'', and '' NYPD Bl ...

as Dalton Philips, cab driver (as Jean LaMarre) *

Mark Blum Mark Blum (May 14, 1950 – March 25, 2020) was an American actor who worked in theater, film, and television. He found success with a lead role in the 1985 film ''Desperately Seeking Susan,'' which he followed up the next year with a supporting r ...

as Dr. Brennan, Obstetrician

Production

Hal Salwen allowed the actors to meet each other once before filming began, then had them shoot their phone scenes separately.

Release

The film premiered at WorldFest-Houston in April 1995. It screened at the

Directors' Fortnight that May and played at Cinéfest Sudbury in September. It was given a limited theatrical release on March 29, 1996.

Reception

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 Wang ...

gives the film a 74% "Certified Fresh" rating based on 23 reviews.

Janet Maslin Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for ''The New York Times''. She served as a ''Times'' film critic from 1977 to 1999 and as a book critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000 Maslin ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' wrote: "Mr. Salwen's storytelling gambit may sound like a stunt, but he does a remarkably agile job of sustaining it throughout a sunny 80-minute comedy." ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' was very positive, with

Desson Thomson Desson Patrick Thomson is a former speechwriter for the Obama administration and former film critic for ''The Washington Post''. He was known as Desson Howe until 2003 when he changed his name after reuniting with his birth father. Biography ...

calling it "an amusing, soundbite-era satire about the dehumanizing link-up between deep human impulses (specifically love) and telephone/computer technology." He added, "What's funniest about the movie is the way information ricochets from person to person, through a combination of speed-dialing, conference calling and

call waiting Call waiting is a telephone service where a subscriber can accept a second incoming telephone call by placing an in-progress call on hold—and may also switch between calls. With some providers it can be combined with additional features such a ...

Hal Hinson Hal Hinson is an American film critic who wrote for ''The Washington Post'' from 1987 to 1997. As of July 2015 he has 887 reviews collected on the website Rotten Tomatoes. Hinson has been cited as a critic who is unpopular with his fellow critic ...

, also of ''The Post'', called it a "stunning satire of

yuppie Yuppie, short for "young urban professional" or "young upwardly-mobile professional", is a term coined in the early 1980s for a young professional person working in a city. The term is first attested in 1980, when it was used as a fairly neu ...

life in Manhattan" and concluded "Salwen has captured and properly identified a very particular modern American species. His emergence as a filmmaker is a true event." Owen Gleiberman of ''

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 cu ...

'' gave the film a grade of C, but said he enjoyed the characters of Jerry and Barbara. In the '' San Francisco Examiner'', Barbara Shulgasser said, "As witty as this film is, Salwen can't get around the fact that a movie about people who don't meet saddles a director with a lot of scenes focusing on one person talking to no one but a piece of machinery." Roger Ebert said the film’s idea was too slight for a full-length feature. In ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'',

Emanuel Levy Emanuel Levy is an American film critic and professor who has taught at Columbia University, New School for Social Research, Wellesley College, Arizona State University and UCLA Film School. Levy currently teaches in the department of cinema ...

wrote, "At times, 'Denise Calls Up' feels like an overextended, one-joke movie, but the joke’s a good one."

Awards

* Tied for Jury Prize at the

with ''

The Brothers McMullen ''The Brothers McMullen'' is a 1995 American comedy-drama film written, directed, produced by, and starring Edward Burns. It deals with the lives of the three Irish Catholic McMullen brothers from Long Island, New York, over three months, as they ...

'' *

Special Mention at the

References

External links

* *
Denise Calls Up
' at

Sony Pictures Classics Sony Pictures Classics Inc. is an American film production and distribution company that is a division of Sony Pictures. It was founded in 1992 by former Orion Classics heads Michael Barker, Tom Bernard and Marcie Bloom. It distributes, produce ...

* * * {{Mojo title, denisecallsup 1995 films American independent films 1995 independent films 1995 comedy films American comedy films Films set in New York City Films about telephony Davis Entertainment films Films produced by John Davis Sony Pictures Classics films 1990s English-language films 1990s American films