Phone Booth (2003)

Phone Booth a Winner

I had forgotten about the copy of "Phone Booth" that we purchased from you and guess what........IT PLAYED OKAY!!!!

So, THAT would be a good reason, why we then ordered the "Sweet November" and "Love Floats" DVDs and were disappointed, as previously stated!!!

How could I have forgotten about this one, "Phone Booth"????

It was GREAT!!!!!!

I am really interested in the "Ice Road Truckers" series, so will give it some serious consideration, then let you know!!!!

Yours sincerely,
Lou Baby............. July 21, 2008

Not Bad

When this came out, it sounded silly. Kept putting it off until my movie queue dwindled. Gave it a second chance. Not bad. I couldn't quite give it four stars, but it was better than expected.

In some ways, the acting was almost too realistic (which makes it more life-like but less likely to win awards). For that, I would give four stars.

But, there is a lack of direction. Too many starts that are abruptly halted. On the flip side, it was pleasantly surprising that it ended when it did (i.e., short film) instead of dragging on and on like some competing films. March 22, 2008

CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?

With the sniper attacks taking place last year, two movies intended for the big screen were put on hold. One, LIBERTY STANDS STILL starring Wesley Snipes, made its way to video with little fanfare. The other was this tense thriller, PHONE BOOTH. It's understandable why the pair would hold off on release. Both feature a sniper shooting people, but with a reason (at least they thinks so) behind it. For once movie studios did the right thing by taking into consideration the feelings of others before rushing out a film to capitalize on someone else's tragedy. That being said, on to the show.

Colin Farrell is Stu Shepard a scum of the Earth publicist. He tags on a student to help him fend off or connive during his phone calls, he leads his clients around with false promises, he bends the rules to get what he wants and he has a girl on the side he's been trying to bed down for weeks. His life changes when he answers the phone booth he uses to make his daily call to her (his wife could trace the calls on his cell phone).

The caller knows all there is to know about Stu. All of the details listed above are known and he lets shares with him this fact. Stu threatens to hang up but the caller manipulates him into staying on the line. They talk. Eventually the caller reveals that he is the man behind a recent series of killings of high profile individuals throughout the city, each by a phone. He presented each with a chance to make up for their misdeeds. None took the chance and so each died. Now it is Stu's chance.

As the conversation goes on, a pair of "escorts" tries to get Stu to relinquish the phone booth. But he knows that should he do so, he is a dead man, a red laser sights dot already shown to him. When the girl's "manager" comes over and attempts Stu to get out, the caller shoots the man dead in the street.

No one notices until it's all over. The girls insist that Stu was the man who shot him that they saw a gun. Police called on the scene treat this as a hostage situation, thinking that Stu is armed. Captain Ramey (Forest Whittaker) attempts to talk Stu out of the booth to no avail. Stu wants to keep anyone else from being killed and to find out what the caller wants of him.

What he wants is nothing more than for Stu to purge himself of his demons. To admit his faults to any and everyone. But most importantly he wants him to admit it to his wife and to the girl he has been hitting on.

The breakdown of this character is the heart and soul of this movie. And Farrell does it in a performance that is outstanding. He brings off the smug, cocky attitude of the character at the beginning only to have him melt slowly before our eyes. All the while, he tries to out maneuver the killer and it isn't until the films end that we get to see if it works or not. Not only that, the answer gives us the knowledge of whether or not Stu will have the chance to be redeemed.

The movie it a taut film that holds you in its grip from the first moment Farrell enters that booth. The claustrophobia of the booth relates well to the feelings the character experiences while hanging on the line.

One thing is certain. After watching this film, it is doubtful that anyone will ever pick up a ringing phone booth phone again.

March 15, 2008

Mediocre, but worth watching once or twice

Let me preface this review with the fact that I am not a big Colin Farrell fan, though this was probably the best movie I've seen him in. Essentially he plays a bottom rung publicist named Stu who seems to want to desperately cheat on his wife. I would not say this movie speaks for all Farrell films, because this is one of the greater ones. However, I do like Keifer Sutherland. Be that as it may, I did enjoy this movie in the end. I realize most people would think the premise of this film is fairly stupid, such as a movie based on Colin Farrell being stuck in a phone booth. I know... sounds exciting right?

Surprisingly the drama in the film really drove it a lot better than I could have ever expected. Granted this might be due to the fact that I had pretty low expectations going in, but I will say it certainly beat them. I'm not saying this is a top movie and a must see, but it's worth giving it a shot, that's for sure. It's actually a pretty interesting premise when you get into it because it basically has Keifer's character holding Farrell hostage in a phone booth the entire time. Strangely the whole movie is filmed without seeing Keifer until the end of the film, but all you hear is his voice throughout. Instead, Keifer is holding him at gunpoint from a window that Farrell can't even see. So it's up to Keifer to prove to him that he has the means to kill Farrell.

Just about everything Keifer's character says is awesome. Especially the part where he cocks the gun and explains why that sound is cool. I have to admit that it was Keifer that really drove the movie and got me into the film, even though he wasn't even on screen. The fact he was basically playing a hitman (or sharpshooter technically) that was shooting people because he didn't like them was great, and somewhat fairly unique for the development of this film. Especially since Kiefer's character is sort of trying to right the world by forcing people to adhere to a more moral/ethical code of life.

As you can see Forest Whitaker's character didn't do that much for me. He was just the cop who spent his time trying to figure out what Farrell was doing. It's kind of an essential role for the reality factor, but it was just a standard police negotiator type of role that people have seen many times over.

Either way, some people will walk away with more from this movie than others. That morality twist in the film on what is actually more wrong really makes you sit and think about it. This is where the movie shines. The movie doesn't have that much re-watch value overall, but if you can find the DVD for a bargain price, it's a quality five dollar movie. Or if it just happens to be on TV, definitely worth sitting down to watch. It's not the kind of movie that will keep you and your friends talking for a long period of time, but I say it's at least worth seeing once. Interesting premise and setting, with drama that moves the movie along and keeps the viewers interested. March 7, 2008

I have seen bad movies, but this one tops the list!

Very bad plot!

I am no movie writer, but I can sure can think of a better idea than having a man in a phone booth in the enitre movie.

Thumb down, way down! January 3, 2008

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