Phone Booth Scene From “The Open Road” (2009)

This is not much a film to recommend, and even the phone booth scene raises questions about the integrity of the storytelling. Or maybe I’m just off about something.

This trio of a father, son and the son’s ex-girlfriend get lost somewhere in Kentucky, with no idea which way to go and no cell phone signal to connect them to help. The group pulls over and finds a phone booth, which the son uses to call the operator. That would mean he just dialed “0”, right? Not “911” or anything else, just “0”.

He asks the operator if she can tell him exactly where the hell he is. She pointedly replies “You want me to tell you where you are?” He says “Yes, please, from your little computer map there, whatever.” She asks “From my what?”

Now, it’s a comedy and all, and the actor on the phone has been increasingly agitated throughout, and becoming progressively irrational, all to some comedic effect. But was it ever appropriate to dial and ask the operator to tell you where you are located — when you are at a payphone? In the past I would think an operator’s access to the phone directory might, with some work and determination, suffice for her to match an incoming caller’s number to their home or other physical address. But why would anyone call an operator to ask where the hell they were, unless they’re being held prisoner or captive.

I wouldn’t know if such operator magic, if it was even possible, could apply to calls like this made from payphones and phone booths. I thought only 911 dispatchers and select others in law enforcement had access to that payphone caller ID.

I just don’t know, but this scene and this whole film had me moving on to thinking about something besides what was happening on the screen, and this potential film/phone goof proved a suitable distraction.