Directed by:
Joel SchumacherScreenplay:
Larry CohenCinematography:
Matthew LibatiqueComposer:
Harry Gregson-WilliamsCast:
Colin Farrell, Kiefer Sutherland, Forest Whitaker, Radha Mitchell, Katie Holmes, Paula Jai Parker, Tia Texada, John Enos III, Richard T. Jones, Keith Nobbs (more)VOD (2)
Plots(1)
A wannabe hotshot entertainment publicist who's more intent on posturing for his unpaid assistant than he is in actually working, Stu Shepherd (Colin Farrell) ducks into a phone booth to make his regular afternoon call to his girlfriend (Katie Holmes). Stu stops in the same phone booth at the same time every day to flirt with the young girl, who does not know that Stu is happily married with no intention of dating her seriously. When Stu says goodbye to his girl and sets down the receiver, he picks up a call from a threateningly sarcastic man with a deep voice. This man seems to have been tracking Stu's visits to this booth every day, and suddenly Stu knows that his secrets are no longer his own. Soon, the caller identifies himself as a sniper and begins shooting. Police are called in, and Stu must use his PR skills in a final test to get out of the booth, alive. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Videos (1)
Reviews (11)
By the end of the film, the script didn't seem to know which way to go, so all of a sudden something happened that could have happened at any time, and it was so rushed and just weird that it kind of ruined Phone Booth for me. However, the previous hour was good and I certainly wouldn't want my bad conscience to have the voice of a giggling Kiefer Sutherland.
()
Even after watching this film twenty times, it's still an inventive, clever, and suspenseful thriller where Joel Schumacher, constrained by budget and shooting days, lets the entire weight of the plot be carried by the polished dialogue of the Farrell-Sutherland pair. For this, the biggest thanks go to Larry Cohen, who did have some mistakes and logical question marks in the script, but the witty social criticism together with the escalation of the plot reliably carries the film for the entire 70-minute runtime.
()
Yeah, when the phone rings in the booth nearby again, I can't even imagine going to pick it up... or can I? Joel Schumacher's film meets all the criteria of an "intelligent" thriller. Minimalist design, great acting (especially the rebirth of narcissist Farella is a delicacy!), interesting work with images (the twisting of shots increases the tension and gradient), decent music and especially a solidly written screenplay which, with a minimum of resources, escalates the absurdity and horror of the situation in which the hostage of the voice on the phone finds himself. I could probably do without tacky and theatrical ending. All in all, it's not a movie that I get overly excited about, but I certainly recommend watching it on movie night for sure...
()
An amazing thriller that bowled me over. The concert of acting by Colin Farrell and the chilling voice of Kiefer Sutherland glued my eyes to the screen from the start and taught me some... um, lessons. For instance, since then I don’t like telling lies and I’ve stopped calling from phone booths. You can never be too careful.
()
How much does each of us hide? How much do we pretend in front of others and what will we do when we are exposed? What if his threats are not empty and the secret he reveals won't be the end of it? How quickly are we able to reassess our highest priorities when it comes to life, not just for ourselves, but also for those closest to us? It was a perfectly delicious pizza, and you're certainly going to wish you had accepted it.... Colin Farrell's perfect performance and the brilliant voice acting of the sniper in a film, which at the time had absolutely no competition. Even many subsequent screenings cannot change the fact that Joel Schumacher and Larry Cohen had surpassed themselves forever.
()
Ads