For a Good Time, Call...
Tags: flashback

Plot synopsis:
After Lauren is dumped by her boyfriend, she is unable to afford a place of her own. Her old friend Jesse informs her of a beautiful apartment right by Gramercy Park, but does not include the fact that his other friend Katie lives there. During their freshman year of college, Lauren had to drive an inebriated Katie home from a frat party. She accidentally spilled her own urine onto Lauren from an empty slushie container, and was promptly thrown out of the car. Despite their clear disdain for each other, they reluctantly move in together for lack of better options.
One night, Lauren hears strange noises coming from Katie's room. Believing she is being attacked, she opens the door to see Katie is saying sexually explicit things on the phone. Katie explains that her career as a writer does not earn her enough money to live in New York, so she does some work as a phone sex operator. Lauren is disgusted by her roommate's profession, but makes some suggestions to how she could make more money. Several weeks go by, and Lauren loses her job at a publishing company when her boss decides to retire. She encourages Katie to obtain a land line, 1-900-mmmhmmm, and becomes her business manager, as they go into business for themselves, which is much more lucrative. In a few weeks they make $12,000, of which Lauren gets  1⁄3, which increases when she becomes a phone operator herself. In the process of their venture, they become close friends.
Throughout the film, Katie has been speaking with a repeat customer named Sean and the calls become less about phone sex and more about getting to know one another. They agree to meet, but are accompanied by Lauren and Jesse who are concerned that he may be a rapist. However, after Katie and Sean meet they discover that they are very well suited to each other and begin to start a relationship which leaves Katie feeling distressed as it is revealed that she is a virgin and has been lying for many years to cover up her insecurities.
Lauren gets an interview at a prestigious publishing company who earlier rejected her, and Katie convinces her to do the interview so that she can blow them off. Yet once Lauren gets to the interview and admits that she has been running a phone sex line all summer, they offer her the job as they feel she has business savvy. Concerned about her long-term prospects, Lauren accepts the job which angers Katie to the point where she reveals their business to Lauren's conservative parents. Lauren moves out and the girls stop speaking to each other.
Lauren's ex-boyfriend Charlie returns from Italy and declares that he made a mistake in breaking up with her. He reveals that he had a passionate love affair with a fiery Italian woman, but if he is to succeed in his business he needs someone boring, predictable and simple - the same reasons he gave to Lauren for dumping her in the first place. Lauren stands up for herself and leaves Charlie for good. Meanwhile, Katie and Sean decide to have sex and in order to calm their nerves they talk on the phone while lying next to each other in bed. When they were finished Katie feels sad that she can't share this news with Lauren, whom she loves. Sean encourages her to call Lauren, and they declare that they 'think' they love each other.
Lauren and Katie both call each other at the same time, and they engage in a phone conversation full of unintentional innuendo before they meet each other on the street and hug.

Review: It's also a relationship film, but an impressive variation from the usual romantic comedy angle.Like another film from this year, Giant Mechanical Man, a significant part of this story involves young adults finding themselves along with happiness after what they thought was a serious relationship was ended by the significant other.
A comedy about phone sex may not sound like a good idea, but For A Good Time, Call...
It all revolves around two former-college  "frenemies" (I really hate that term, but whatever) who both need to  find a roommate so they can stay in New York and live the "American  Dream" which is when mutual friend Jesse (played by an hilariously camp  Justin Long) forces them to move in together.
The  phone-sex-line however, is not the centre of this film, though it  certainly plays a significant part.
This film is borne from a post-Bridesmaids we-women-can-be-just-as-  filthy-and-funny-as-men era and it takes that female empowerment to a  whole new level with both ladies showing their modern-esque sexuality  and embracing there situation.
The  chemistry between the two lead actors is very convincing and as I  watched I couldn't help but think that they had a truly distinctive  "Womance" (that's the female version of a bromance) that is rear to see  in film or TV.
at the Sundance Film Festival If you liked Bridesmaids you'll want to see this movie.
Lauren (Lauren Miller) and Katie (Ari Graynor) have a mutual friend (Justin Long), but they hate each other.
Lauren lives the settled conservative life with her perfect, boring boyfriend; Katie is an adventurous, flamboyant sex phone operator.
Lauren's sudden unemployment coupled with the good head on her shoulders sparks her idea to help Katie launch her own sex phone hotline.
That's because the film isn't about the phone sex hotline business but rather Lauren and Katie's friendship.
And now the crass and crude sex comedy "For a Good Time, Call" is actually a cute and sweet female buddy film.While the dialogue is extreme, it is surprisingly fairly well written.
Plot advancement is limited as it is very predictable and the jokes are very one-note, but it's still funny."For a Good Time, Call" is honest in what it claims to be, and despite an unresolved storyline, we're cheering for Lauren and Katie by the end because of the actors and how they have connected them to us.
Their common gay friend Jesse (Justin Long) brings Lauren to share the apartment with Katie, but they are college enemies and have difficulties to accept each other.
Katie also works in a phone sex line but her income is very low.
When Lauren loses her lousy job and is not accepted in a publishing house, she decides to use her knowledge to make a profitable business in sex for Katie and herself.
"For a Good Time, Call..." is an uneven comedy, funny in certain moments and lame in others.
I am smiling and laughing as I am typing this!For a Good Time Call is exactly what you think about with an independent film - no sugar coating or dumbing down to make it appeal to a mass audience.
STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday MorningFormer bosom buddies turned long separated rivals Lauren (Lauren Miller) and Katie (Ari Graynor) find themselves thrown back together by chance, through GBF Jesse (Justin Long) and after sorting out their differences, Lauren learns Katie's making ends meat by being a phone sex operator.
Jamie Travis's film is just not funny, with a plot that's lost your interest about twenty minutes in and is just left to wallow in the mire, with little cohesion or comic timing.
Current comedy favourites Kevin Smith and Seth Rogen make only the briefest cameos and, along with the film's minimal publicity campaign, this should be saying something.For a Good Time, Don't Watch.
With a premise in a similar vein to 'Zack And Miri Make A Porno', which also starred a dim- witted Seth Rogen, 'For A Good Time, Call' is a crude, daring comedy that never crosses the line simply because it doesn't have one.Resorting to phone sex to help pay the bills in their city apartment, Lauren and Katie - two completely opposite personalities - bond despite a teenage feud still lingering.
While Ari Graynor has the better role to play, Lauren Miller manages to prove she shares a sense of lowbrow humour with her husband (Rogen), who cameos in one of the film's most memorable scenes.
Justin Long's flamboyant character is used to the right extent; the film never outstays its welcome in any aspect, its brisk running time only slowing for a more serious third act, a missed attempt at giving the film emotional weight where, given its no- holds barred hilarity, feels somewhat unnecessary.Refreshing and relevant, 'For A Good Time, Call' is a chick flick for both genders; a sugary depiction of sisterhood flirting with a risqué exploration of what men enjoy about it..
Co-writer and star Lauren Miller has played various smaller roles in  several of her husband Seth Rogen's movies (Superbad, 50/50, Zack and  Miri Make a Porno), but uses For a Good Time, Call as an attempt to  step out of her hubby's shadow and distinguish herself as a star on her  own.
Her script is a fun, light hearted take on the so-called taboo  world of phone sex, and while the endless amount of naughty jokes are  humorous to a certain extent, the gimmick runs itself a bit thin by  film's end.
Miller, paired with veteran ditz-for-hire Ari Graynor make a fun female  version of the Odd Couple, but it doesn't take long for these  characters to run out of steam on screen.
Along with Miller, Graynor  has long been the sidekick in other people's starring vehicles, so it's  nice to see her actually get the chance to carry a movie on her own,  but her persona in this flick is virtually the same to her characters  in Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist and The Sitter.
Had so much fun watching this movie with my best friend.
Love that this movie was written at a kitchen table, filmed within 16 days, and came out looking like a high budget film.
Let me put it this way; after hearing men reiterate the passion they have for the size of their private parts and their ability to pick up and have sex with any women, it was somewhat pleasantly different and original to hear women converse about vibrators, phone sex, and different slang terms such as "phanal" ("phone anal" for the literate).To put it simply, this is a very funny and surprisingly warm movie with a contagiously raunchy side.
It just so happens that we are given two female protagonists here that carry a lion's weight of the film effortlessly and poetically; the last things I was expecting to say about a film centering around two acquaintances drumming up an outdated phone sex business.Lauren Powell (Lauren Miller) was the smart-girl in school who always seemed destined for greatness and who was always seemingly benefited from mommy and daddy's money.
One night in college, Lauren was forced by her best friend Jesse (Justin Long, in quite possibly the most brashly gay role this year) to drive Katie home and after, let's say, a poor circumstance, Katie was left in the middle of nowhere.Fast-forward a few years later, when Lauren is down and out after being dumped by her boyfriend and Katie's apartment is about to be sold to another client if she can not pay rent.
When it is learned that Katie runs a phone sex business in her home, Lauren, at first appalled, realizes that there is a boatload of money to be made in the business and decides to become Katie's business partner when the job she wants falls through.
Several filthy calls and credit cards later, Lauren wants to have her own line at the newly made 1-900-MMM-HMMM, because she feels she has gone too far in her boring, good-girl life.The movie realistically portrays how girls carry out their contention between one another when forcefully paired together.
Then it shows their slow, awkward, and shaky progress towards friendship before they are blossoming with joy from being around each other.It's that and the idea that the film doesn't overcompensate on the infinite number of dirty things these women can say to their customers or vice-versa, but also explores them as characters with emotions, personality, and feelings.
Of course amidst all that, we get fun cameos from Kevin Smith, a taxi-cab driver, and Seth Rogen, an airplane pilot, both horny and looking for a good time on the phone.For a Good Time, Call...
is like the best comedy to ever deal with phone sex and will be for many, many years to come.
Ari Graynor is terrifically energetic here, as is Lauren Miller, but the performance that did it for me was Justin Long's passionately convincing, if over the top, gay character who continues to check up on his friends even long after they've committed to a solid, likable relationship.
It's sweet, memorable, and effervescently fun; pretty much all of the things phone sex isn't.Starring: Ari Graynor, Lauren Miller, Justin Long, Seth Rogen, and Kevin Smith.
A pretty funny comedy about two former enemies who start up a phone sex line.
"Hello world for a good time call 1-900-mmm-hmmm." Lauren (Miller) & Katie (Graynor) are both at a rough patch.
Lauren's boyfriend is moving to Europe and she lost her job, Katie can't make enough to stay in her apartment so their mutual friend decides it's time they move in together.
The cameos were great and the movie was funny but it was a little more girlie then I was expecting.
This is more then a movie about phone sex, its about friendship and being true to yourself.
At first, the hostility is off the charts, but when Lauren loses her dream job, she is forced to help Katie run her business, a phone sex line.
At first, seeing the things these girls were saying and the people they were talking to was hilarious, but after an hour of this film, it just really wasn't all the funny anymore.
For a good time watch this movie, it's way out there, but some parts are truly hysterical..
is so bad that Justin Long plays a flamboyant homosexual in the film and that isn't even the worst thing about it...
On the whole: have a nice time and watch it, though not alone....I made this mistake and I really missed a girlfriend to giggle with - as this movie is not only about sex, laughing but also some new-found feeling of deep friendship.
It was interesting to see their contrasts on screen.If you like sex, comedy and friendship films this is a great one to see..
This comedy is about two women in their 20's who come together to create a phone sex business.
And it really worked as this phone sex business really did (surprisingly) empower these women.
Lavern Miller (Lauren Powell) and Katie Steele (Ari Grayner) turn the tables from being college frenemies to BFFs. A quirky comedy about the dynamics of using sex appeal to discover the vast pot of undiscovered gold.
Lauren Miller-Rogen and Ari Graynor are really charismatic and you'll fall in love with them from the beginning.
But its off-beat rhythm grew on me, and by the time it was over I found myself enjoying it quite a lot.Lauren Miller and Ari Graynor play roommates who first hate each other and then become best friends when they team up to run a phone sex business.
There are some predictable conflicts that do more to slow the film down than add interest, but there are enough surprises along the way to keep the film from turning into the predictable sitcom it might otherwise have been.Justin Long has a supporting role as the flamboyant gay man that has become a stock character in every movie that wants to earn its hip and edgy badge, and though I can acknowledge that the lines coming out of his mouth were funny, they weren't funny enough to overcome my complete resistance to him as an actor.Grade: B+.
Lauren Miller and Ari Graynor pretty good chemistry.
The money trouble continues and Lauren decide to join Katie in a phone sex business.
Don't get me wrong there was some saucy humour in there and it was definitely the kind of film you'd watch after a couple of drink with the girls, but it was more than that; and I think girls and guys alike will enjoy.The main characters complimented each other well and although they were both flawed that just emphasised their likability.So if you want something a bit naughty and a bit fun I would definitely recommend..
They started to bond via the most unlikely way."For a Good Time, Call..." is an explicit and gross comedy, putting sex (and sex toys) in your face to make you laugh.
It was mildly entertaining at best.Ari Graynor, Lauren Miller, and Justin Long starred in this mediocre, rather crass, and not-so- funny comedy.
Now this movie is a good time.
Though this may not seem like much on the outside the characters and story are well thought out and lively that it is almost impossible for you to not have a good time while watching this film.The story, behind its raunchy and superbly unladylike jokes and jests, is one for the lovers of a good tale of friendship.
Hesitatingly, they desperately agree!The story continues with the two ladies sharing a phone-sex hotline business and create an awesome friendship along the way.
It's well made with an okay script that will adequately entertain you but not much beyond that.Mrs. Seth Rogen aka Lauren Miller plays one half of the lead gals.
She does a really good job as the sweet and innocent Lauren Powell who eventually comes around and becomes a sex call operator.
Something about the characters and story would have just worked better in small doses (like a half hour sitcom.) The cleverness to the film is the spoofing of typical romantic comedies, and the bizarre relationship between the two main girls.
Most of the time you think the two of them are going to end up together but in reality the film is simply spoofing the close relationship of two best friends.
Just go into the movie knowing this is about laughing and about loving your true friends, ignoring the differences you have oh and phone sex!
"For a Good Time, Call..." exemplifies yet again why female-driven raunchy comedies tend to work better than those that are male-driven.
We're actually made to care about what we're watching.The plot centers on New Yorkers Lauren Powell (Lauren Anne Miller, also one of the writers) and Katie Steele (Ari Graynor).
Things gradually start to change when a stuffy executive (Nia Vardalos) denies Lauren an editorial position at a publishing house; Katie is encouraged to quit the sex hotline she works for, which takes most of her earnings, and go into business for herself on a landline.
"For a Good Time, Call..." is not a perfect film – certain characters are underutilized, and the subplot featuring Lauren's parents remains unresolved – but it certainly is much better than certain audiences will give it credit for.-- Chris Pandolfi.
She loves romcoms, I make no secret that the "girls from different walks of life become friends" trope will win me over any time, so this seemed like a good fit.We didn't even know the half of it.I'm going to go right out and say it: This is a coded lesbian romcom.
Sure, Katie gets her sorta stilted romance with awkward movie maker boy, but at the climax (no pun intended) she literally walks away from having sex with him to go make up with Lauren because she loves her.
For Half A Good Time, Watch This Movie!.
Lauren (Lauren Miller) and Katie Steele (Ari Graynor) both need a  roommate.
They are introduced by a mutual  friend, Jesse (Justin Long) and just like that Lauren and Katie  remember they hated each other in college.
Soon after they move in,  Lauren loses her job, and Katie shares a little secret, she's an  operator on a phone sex line.
With job prospects not looking so good,  Lauren becomes a call screener for Katie and they start their own phone  sex line called 1-800-MMM-HMM.
And finally,  this movie makes a mistake that many comedies make, it tries to get  serious, and that's when Katie, loses all her edge and becomes a  conventional, even hackneyed character.
The ending is muddled and  meaningless, which added to my ambivalence about this movie, but Justin  Long is consistently funny as the ubiquitous gay character, Seth Rogan  is funny in his cameo, and the banter between Miller and Graynor is  pretty good for the first half of the movie, but falters.
is not the sexiest movie you'll see this year, even though it is about phone sex with some very racy language.
No, it's about the business of friendship, the need to accept and nurture differences until real love emerges, not phony stuff.Frenemies from college, Lauren (Lauren Miller) and Katie (Ari Graynor), are thrown together in their living arrangement and, overcoming their original dislike for each other (Katie spilled a large cup of urine on Lauren in college), start a successful phone-sex business.
As different as they are blond and brunette, they are alike in their passionate need for loving relationships, not the superficial bromances of Judd Apatow, but more like his sisterly production of Bridesmaids, itself raunchy but with wit that transcends the male equivalent comedies.For a Good Time is more like I Love You, Man as it navigates close same sex friendship.
The two actresses are important to the film's success: cute and smart, Graynor and Miller are distaff Butch and Sundance best buddy characters.