Phone Booth (2003)

psychological thriller
directed by : Joel Schumacher
featuring : Colin Farrell - Kiefer Sutherland - Forest Whitaker - Radha Mitchell - Katie Holmes
running time : 1 hour 20 minutes
One man's life is thrown into turmoil by picking up a telephone in this claustrophobic thriller. Stu Sheppard (Colin Farrell) is a brash, cynical, and self-centered public relations man who juggles a busy career with both a wife, Kelly (Radha Mitchell), and a mistress, Pamela (Katie Holmes). Stu steps into a phone booth on a busy New York street to make a call to Pamela without Kelly being the wiser, but as soon as Stu hangs up, the phone begins to ring. Curious, Stu picks it up — and a stranger on the other end (voice of Kiefer Sutherland) informs him that if he hangs up the phone, he'll be shot. The red dot of an infrared rifle scope convinces Stu that the caller means business, and when another man tries to make his way into the booth, he's shot mere inches from Stu, calling the attention of the police. Captain Ramey (Forest Whitaker) naturally assumes that Stu was the killer, as Stu struggles to find a way to convince the police of what's happening before more lives are lost, without leaving the booth and putting his own life on the line. At one time proposed as a vehicle for Jim Carrey, Phone Booth was directed by Joel Schumacher, from a screenplay by exploitation icon Larry Cohen.

Schumacher's minor, but tightly constructed high-concept thriller Phone Booth clocks in at a brisk and efficient 80 minutes that transpires onscreen in real time. At heart a highly charged B-movie, the film would be easy to dismiss if not for the flashes of smart dialogue and the solid lead performance of Farrell. Given only a few minutes to establish his character before being plunged into a life-threatening situation, Farrell communicates Stu Shepard's remarkable facility for sleaze in both his personal and professional life. His unlikability brings the film its enjoyable buzz. As the disembodied voice of the caller terrorizes him, Stu's questionable morality allows the audience to side with both the cat and the mouse throughout the ordeal. That Farrell actually succeeds entirely in winning the viewer's sympathy is a testament to both his skill and the unrelenting tension of the direction and screenplay. An enjoyable popcorn film, Phone Booth delivers the goods in a neat and tidy package.