WITH ALL OF THE JOBS I have had, from working in a shipping department to selling kitchen and bathroom products door to door, I have always had a sense of pride with the work I produced. Seeing results from actions I took always spurred me on to do better. Working in the credit and collections field, there has always been a tangible level of satisfaction I felt whenever I saw payments coming in from the customers I contacted. The other strong sense of pride I feel concerns the various fitness classes I have taught. Seeing a member, who has been participating in my class repeatedly, physically and mentally change before my eyes has been one of the most satisfying events in my life. I understand there is perspective and though I am not doing brain surgery or irradicating a disease, there has been many positive moments I have experienced in the world of fitness. It is funny, I had a member who went through a transformation during their time in my classes. At one point they shared part of their story with me, and I must tell you, I quickly discounted their accolades for me when they said they were an air traffic controller. Talk about having the responsibility of someone’s life in your hands, every plane they control is a major life event for them. in my opinion, it is an intense job.      ANOTHER JOB THAT I CONSIDER INTENSE, is being the operator at a 911 call center. The reason I say this is because I knew someone who worked as one. The stories I would hear would easily make for a startling story line in a movie. There was the call from a crying woman who barricaded herself in a room to keep her abusive husband from beating her. Another call came in from a good Samaritan who witnessed a hit and run car accident, asking for medical help for the injured. He and I were each talking about our jobs one day and I came to find out he got little satisfaction from the work he was doing. I asked him why he felt that way because from where I stood, I thought he was close to being a land-based angel. The reason he felt that way was due to the fact he rarely ever saw the final results to the call he took. Many times, he would only have to contact the police or fire department; he never really found out what happened to the individuals he spoke with on the phone. He felt my job in fitness was more exciting. I did not see it that way; see what you think if you wish to watch this dramatic, crime thriller.      REASSIGNED TO WORKING AT THE 911 call center, a police officer takes a call that would stir up such emotions that he could not let the call go. With Jake Gyllenhaal (Nocturnal Animals, End of Watch) as Joe Baylor, Riley Keough (Logan Lucky, Mad Max: Fury Road) voicing Emily Lighton, Peter Sarsgaard (The Sound of Silence, Garden State) voicing Henry Fisher, Christina Vidal (See No Evil, Magic Man) as Sgt. Denise Wade and Adrian Martinez (Focus, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty) as Manny; the main driver of this picture was Jake’s performance. It was one of the better performances I have seen from him. The premise of the story was captivating; however, I thought the script was muddled. Some scenes did not ring true to me and I thought the flow of them was disjointed. As a result, there were times I was riveted to the action, but then suddenly a change would make me lose interest. Nonetheless, there is no denying Jake put everything he had into this film since he was in nearly every scene. For such an important line of work, I had wished this movie would have honored it in a better scripted way.

2 ½ stars