Review of Phone Booth (2003) by Jakeri C — 06 Aug 2014

"Phone Booth" is an effective thriller that moves quickly and will always have you wondering what is going to happen next. The film stars Colin Farrell as Stu Shepard, he's a New York City publicist that's kind of a slimeball, lying constantly to his contacts and using underhanded tactics to get what he wants. Behind his wife's back (Radha Mitchell as Kelly), he's been hitting on a woman named Pam (Katie Holmes). To avoid suspicion, he's been using a phone booth to call her instead of his cell phone. Today though, things take an unexpected twist. While in the phone booth, Stu receives a call. It's an unnamed killer, he tells Stu that he needs to be punished and that unless he does exactly as told, stays in the phone booth and co-operates, he'll be shot dead. This is no joke. There is a man watching Stu's every move with a sniper rifle pointed at his chest. Even worse, the sniper is deliberately stirring up a storm around Stu, making it look like he's mentally unstable and dangerous. It's a hostage situation where no one knows that the suspect is actually the victim.

The setup of the movie is simple, but effective. It's basically the sniper having a good time at Stu's expense while our protagonist is sweating like crazy, trying to get out of this situation alive while having not only the killer, but the police pointing guns at him. The situation is constantly changing, getting from bad to worse. First, it's just Stu, the phone booth and the killer, then he gets attacked by a nutcase who wants him to leave the phone booth, then the police get involved, then his wife gets involved. It's a mental game of cat and mouse between Stu and the Sniper. How does he inform the police that there's a legitimate reason for why he can't leave the phone booth, without giving away to the sniper (who's listening to every conversation) that he's trying to collaborate with the police? This is one of those movies where you'll put yourself in the situation that Stu is in and wonder what you would do. Thankfully, the script is just as intelligent as the audience here so there are some good twists and the actions the characters take are logically and a thrill to watch. Part of the credit has to be given to star Colin Farrell. He makes for a compassionate hero. Sure he's been thinking of cheating on his wife and he's kind of a jerk, but he's learned his lesson within ten minutes of being held at gun point, give him a break! The killer's a lot of fun too, gleefully tormenting our protagonist, cracking jokes while still remaining an intelligent and dangerous threat. When it comes to the side characters, they're also enjoyable to follow. Forrest Whittaker plays Police Captain Ed Ramey, an officer that's intelligent and able to piece together that there's something amiss here. You're just waiting for one of these characters to either figure out something that none of the others have, or for one of them to make a fatal mistake.

The film is shot in real time and only lasts 81 minutes. It never wears out its welcome and is exciting all the way through not only because of the physical threat of violence, but also because of the drama in Stu's personal life. On top of all that we've also got the police who are trying to figure out what is going on and who is really behind all this (which is what you're doing as well). The ending wraps itself up nicely too so there are very few times where the movie stumbles. "Phone Booth" is a fun thriller, check it out. (theatrical version on Dvd, October 18, 2013).