For a Good Time, Call…

As satisfying as a vibrator without batteries, “For a Good Time, Call…” is a superficially ribald sex comedy that lacks “sex” and “comedy.” Incompetent pacing combines with tone-deaf dialogue for a movie that is a chore to endure. Co-screenwriter/actress Lauren Anne Miller plays Lauren, a brunette twentysomething New York City misfit who moves in with blonde Katie (Ari Graynor), a slutty piece-of-work with whom Lauren had a falling out a decade ago. Both girls need more money to make ends meet. Katie’s part time stay-at-home job as a phone sex operator gushes a brainstorm when the girls decide to go into the naughty biz together. The film’s only funny scene arrives with little more than a chuckle when Katie tutors Lauren in the phone technique of saying she wants to “lick” whatever it is that comes up during client calls. Katie’s big secret is that, for all of her verbal abilities, she’s still — wait for it — a virgin. Yawn. Justin Long gives an annoyingly inconsistent performance as Katie’s gay best friend Jesse. All premise and no execution, “For a Good Time, Call…” confirms Woody Allen’s principle that you’re not doing it right if the sex isn’t dirty. The phone-sex sequences in this movie would put a 15-year-boy to sleep.

Rated R. 88 mins. (D+) (One Star - out of five/no halves)

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