AllMovie

A one-joke movie that works (in part because of its modest length), Denise Calls Up understands how young urbanites hide beyond semi-anonymous communication, mainly the telephone. (It's possible to see this as a wittier precursor to You've Got Mail.) Thanks to call waiting and conference calls, it's also possible to set up a small community of faceless friends, but the key is not to show up in person, whether for a lunch date or a party (the film is bookended by two of the latter). In this world, even sex is better over the phone; the courtship of Barbara (Caroleen Feeney) and Jerry (Liev Schreiber) provides the movie with some of its funniest moments. Unfortunately, the film's weakest link is the title character, played by Alanna Ubach in full Cyndi Lauper mode. Her relationship with Martin (Dan Gunther), the ultimate Type A (who works at home in dress shirt and tie?), seems as forced as the others seem natural.