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)
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Reviews (11)
KIEFER RULES! The main star in this inventive thriller for me is not the great Colin Farrell, but the absolutely perfect voice performance of Keifer Shuterland. I wouldn’t want to see this film dubbed. And I also wonder how the video distributors will handle it when converting it to VHS format. Schumacher divides the screen into several windows in which we see the plot running simultaneously from different locations. It's nothing new, but I like this method often used in the 1960s.
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Joel Schumacher is truly a unique person, he can make crap like Batman & Robin, but he can also make gems like Falling Down or 8mm. This project, Phone Booth, is considered the pinnacle of his filmography because it has everything a film in this genre should have: a great main hero, a devilish villain, captivating atmosphere, excellent camera work, and solid music. That's why it is one of the best thrillers of the year.
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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...
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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.
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I’m grateful to Telecom/Télefonica O2 for getting rid of the telephone boxes from my neighborhood. I’m such a dummy that I also might pick up a forlorn call. Just that I’m in no way such a hot shot like Farrell. I’d be a darn piece of cake for “that guy". And for this movie is a piece of cake too because everything works as it should and practically all came out unprecedentedly well. Especially the atmosphere. Something that would be hard to find in a regular Prague phone booth.
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