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.

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.

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.

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.