Miss Dial (2013) User Reviews

Enjoyable

[ife-arteaga · 7/10 · 14 March 2013]

This was a very enjoyable and laughter filled film. There were many scenes that kept me laughing especially when the lead actress Eric would make calls for her job. The concept of the "Miss Dial" in which Erica would call a random person and just talk with them was a very original idea to me. It really made me think about how, despite all these social networks, are disconnected from people outside the people we see everyday. Less and less people are breaking out of their comfort zone to meet new people and more and they are stuck behind a computer screen. Although I really enjoyed this film the ending was no much to my liking as it ended up like any other love story with the man and women meeting and having a happily ever after.

great

[delkey23-657-778631 · 5/10 · 12 April 2013]

This movie was awesome. Good concept and well played. I enjoyed some of the humor presented in the movie. I liked how the movie played out from beginning,middle, and end. It was a clever way to mix all the confrontation between the actors and actresses to make it a all around good time film. Althoughh i thought that there should have been more use of the other big time actors and actresses only to help the movie reach its full potential. There could've been more use for some of the other stars. David did a nice job with this one along with the others. The humor could have expanded more along with the entertainment but over all i think it was a great movie with a greate plot.

A concept with a lot of potential that was killed by a boring execution.

[buttfries · 3/10 · 7 March 2013]

Miss Dial is another one of those movies that you wanna see for other reasons than the plot itself. The film seemed interesting because of the director's approach to it. What made me curious was that the film was supposed to be shot so that no two characters would be filmed together. Although the idea seemed awesome, the execution of it was honestly just disappointing. The movie started off well, but quickly turned from average to almost unbearable. The acting seemed a bit forced, and sometimes it actually looked like some of the stars were reading their lines off of the wall in front of them when they were faced with a longer part. The story began to just be weird at a certain point, and it seemed like the characters didn't seem to ever face any consequence for the choices they made. Through the middle of the movie the events that take place start to get repetitive and predictable; Take a call, Call a stranger, Get a non intimidating call from your boss about work ethic, repeat. After a while, a new step is added to the circle of events when she calls a volunteer EMT named Kyle who swept Erica off of her feet with his good looks and monogamous principals. The end of the movie was extremely rushed, and extremely predictable. Erica and Kyle both hear a siren outside, and it's finally revealed that Kyle just so happened to move right next to her. Overall this movie is pretty bad, and basically seemed to me like a day in the life of a woman who uses her contradicting relationship with telephones to build a strong connection with a man who should have realized that he lived a block away when he creepily scoured through her Facebook page in the very beginning of the movie.

"tuhribble" just terrible

[eo1994 · 3/10 · 1 July 2013]

The first thirty minutes, there was actually some hope in my mind that this movie's plot would really take off. It did take long to prove I was sorely disappointed. There are some funny moments that make it seem worth holding out for but ultimately this movie proves to be simply too predictable. Perhaps the worst part of the movie is when the lead actor cries but just can't get those tears flowing. Woman's man is cheating, she finds another love interest, and she moves on. It's a definite A on originality though. Lead actors were very relatable to regardless of how bland their storyline was. Cameo from Gabrielle Union was perhaps the funniest part of this movie. This was the first film this particular director was in charge of however, so plenty of room for improvement. Great Actors, bland plot and original storyline.

A Charming, Incisive Winner

[jharberson · 10/10 · 16 March 2013]

The best romantic comedies (Pretty Woman, As Good As It Gets, Bull Durham, Knocked Up) often remind us that, not only do we need other people, but that they also better us. Miss Dial, David Steinberg's newest film, charmingly succeeds at doing the same. Steinberg, a master of raunchy, gross-out comedy (he wrote or co-wrote several of the American Pie films and the hilariously bawdy coming-of-age novel Last Stop This Town), has created a subtle, engaging, and relentlessly funny character study about the profitable, if painful, self-improvement occurring when the right person enters one's life.

Miss Dial is Erica (an outstanding Robinne Lee), a home-based consumer products customer service rep who (with a smiling, repressed contempt) fields calls from morons and weirdos befuddled by her company's usually self-explanatory products. After one moron too many, Erica takes a break from her caller queue and, attempting to call a friend, misdials an Afghanistan War vet in North Carolina. An engrossing conversation ensues, prompting Erica to keep dialing random numbers to talk to strangers, most of whom provide the honest, unscripted human contact she didn't know she needed. Her last "misdial" brings her to Kyle (an excellent Sam Jaeger), with whom she develops an increasingly romantic rapport. Kyle goads Erica, however charmingly, towards a self-understanding prompting reconsideration of her relationships, personal and professional.

Miss Dial also meditates upon what, as another reviewer observed, is perhaps the great irony of our age: technology has made us at once intimate and estranged. People increasingly prefer social networks, texts, and telephones to real, human contact. Resultantly, one may know a person's favorite books, music, and foods and not really know him or her. Couple that with the perma-smiling personae workplaces oblige employees to adopt (as Erica does with flagging success throughout the story) to handle a cretinous, consuming public and one realizes how we can interact with others constantly and yet learn nothing about them or ourselves.

Technically speaking, Steinberg's writing and direction are right on. His plotting is a textbook example of screenwriter William Goldman's demand: "Give the audience what they want, just not in the way they expect it." And the spare, split-screen rendering of the characters' phone conversations captures the sense of phony intimacy technology allows while focusing attention upon the actors' masterful performances.

Mr. Steinberg has done a mitzvah in creating Miss Dial. It deserves the widest possible audience.

Maybe I should have skipped this one.

[seannawng · 2/10 · 18 July 2014]

I really had somewhat high expectations for this film once recognizing actors whom I consider have wonderful careers in entertainment such as Sam Jaeger, Gabrielle Union, Dule Hill, Beth Grant, John Kapelos, just to name a few featured in the film, but upon actually watching the film in it's entirety I was severely disappointed. The actors who I thought had primary roles were featured for maybe twenty seconds at least! However, it is not the work of the many supporting characters that makes me rank this film so low, the low ranking is because I was very bored with Robinne Lee's character! Initially, I was searching for an African-American actress starring lead in a film, and I found 'Miss Dial'. Unfortunately, Robinne Lee just didn't have any... 'pizazz' whatsoever. Other than the acting capabilities, I wonder if the film budget was very very low, or independent, or... just bad? Maybe I've grown accustomed to the "typical" Hollywood movie set: glowing and unlike real life as many know it, but that's what makes a ROM COM feel like a ROM COM to me! Yes, this film portrays the simplicity of REAL life with low lighting and very cost effective scenery, but when films have the ability to portray brilliant images and capture shared moments, those that lack the spark and the effect are left in the dust. I guess that is how you can separate movies like this from films that leave an affect.

Very cute movie!

[berrit · 9/10 · 7 March 2013]

My husband and I saw Miss Dial earlier tonight with some friends, and everyone really liked it. It is a very cute and upbeat movie and there are several laugh-out-loud moments/scenes. If you have ever had a crappy "gotta-pay-the-bills" job, you'll identify with Erica, the main character, and her attempt to inject a little bit of fun and humanity into her daily routine. Both Erica and the male lead are very likable characters -- you will root for them to succeed throughout the movie. The sets are simple (mainly apartment settings) and most of the dialog takes place via phone conversations with the callers appearing in split-screen view. My husband and I agree that this is definitely a movie that we would recommend, and we would both see it again!

Fun for the whole family!

[kelsey-b-fisher · 8/10 · 8 March 2013]

Fun movie for the whole family to watch. It will bring up a discussion of how we all communicate with each other in today's social world; like, how we meet new people and grow those relationships into something worth continuing. There are many fun cameos that will surprise you and make you laugh out loud. You really feel and connect to each character because you've been in those situations before. Jokes are reflections of real life situations when dealing with customer service. How many times have you had to call a company's 800 number and then it turned into a completely different scenario? Good for any night of the week!

Hilarious Feel-Good Movie

[kayaroo · 10/10 · 8 March 2013]

We went to a special screening last night of MISS DIAL in the writer/director's hometown and it was an extremely awesome experience. First of all, he taped an intro to the movie and gave a personal shout-out to his hometown and his family. Second, the theater was packed and you could feel the excitement in the air. Third, the movie was by far one of the best romantic comedies I have ever seen. The last reviewer must have been in a different theater, because the audience was laughing throughout the entire movie and some folks were even crying at the touching ending. If you need a belly-aching good laugh and a feel good story that leaves you wanting more, than look no further than MISS DIAL. I may have to start stalking David Steinberg to write the sequel because I'm dying to know what happened between Erica and Kyle. I'm smiling just thinking about what a wonderful movie it was. Can't wait to see again and again.

perfect date movie

[tpkwqtlk · 10/10 · 7 March 2013]

If you want a good date movie for a Friday night, this one is definitely worth a watch. The funnies parts are watching Erica deal with all the customers' calls and complaints. We know this goes on and we've all probably been on the customer's end, complaining to the service representative. Its funny and romantic, the perfect example of a "romanic comedy." The writing is very clever and keeps your attention throughout the film. It has some big stars from film and TV that you will instantly recognize and some new up-and-commers. For a good movie that will make you laugh and warm your hear, definitely give this Miss Dial a try.

laugh out loud funny

[jezebel352 · 8/10 · 16 March 2013]

I rarely ever watch rom-coms, but something drew me to this film. I saw the trailer on another site and pretty much had it saved in my memory bank and counted down the days till the release. I guess I kinda got my days wrong cos I told myself it was out on the 15th march when it was out on 12th march.

Anyway, on to the review...what did I like about it? For people not in the same room, Robinne Lee (Erica) and Sam Jaeger (Kyle) were brilliant together. Their conversation was moving, fun and flirty. The moment when Kyle overhears the low-self esteem-y conversation that Erica was having with her boyfriend was heartbreaking and well acted by Robinne Lee. It takes their relationship to a whole new place.

It is laugh out loud funny. The dog poop, the potato shredder, the cereal lady...only there for a brief moment, but you get such a good sense of their character and you feel Erica's frustration with them.

Why 8 out of 10 stars? Why does a woman who talks to strangers on the phone everyday for a living feel the need to talk to even more strangers? To be fair, this doesn't ruin our enjoyment of the film one bit. Mostly because her miss dials are interesting, heartwarming and the characters at the other end of the line were believable. Some place here is a soldier just back from tour who could do with that kind of call or a lady with her kids grown, out of the house with an empty house all to herself and feeling alone. Her blowing off work provided a bit of tension, anytime she spent too much time on her miss dial calls, I wanted to scream, "get back to work! you are going to be fired!!!!" I thought the end scene when they meet each other for the first time and shake hands went on for a tiny bit too long.

All in all, it is a great feel good movie held together by strong writing and actors. For this to work the calls had to be ridiculous, over the top, funny, frustrating, uplifting, baffling....annoying...and they were all that and more. I thought was going to watch it in two halfs, but ended up staying up late to finish the whole thing. I'll be watching again and buying on DVD if a PAL version is ever released.