10 Ridiculous Movie Tropes So Common People Think They're Real

2. "I Want My Phone Call" (But Only One)

The Trope

The overwhelming majority of crime-centric movies and especially TV shows will feature arrested characters demanding their phone call, the implication being that they're statutorily granted just one phone call to their lawyer or to a family member.

The Reality

Though many U.S. states now do allow prisoners the fair and free use of phones, it's certainly not guaranteed everywhere, and largely at the discretion of police officers who may or may not grant it depending on an inmate's behaviour.

But more to the point, there's no unreasonable limit on the number of calls a prisoner can make, and they're certainly not limited to making just a single call before being thrown in the slammer forever more.

Of course, if the police have good reason to believe you're making calls to conceal evidence or commit a crime, they can revoke your phone privileges, but generally speaking the idea of having just one call is a total myth.

One of the more memorable uses of the trope, The Dark Knight, actually ends up proving just how silly the trope truly is.

The Joker (Heath Ledger) keeps begging for his one phone call, and when they finally grant it to him (after he takes a cop hostage), he uses said call to detonate a bomb which ultimately frees him from prison.