PHONE BOOTH
Released: April 4, 2003
Director Joel Schumacher returns with a good flick after 2002's unambitious Chris Rock vehicle "Bad Company". Produced and ready for release before Colin Farrell became a hot property in recent hits like "Daredevil" and "The Recruit", "Phone Booth" is now given a delayed release thanks to a real life sniper drama that hit the Washington, DC area in the fall of 2002. A slick New York publicist with a paper thin moral conscience (Farrell) picks up a ringing phone in a booth and is told by the caller that if he hangs up, he'll be killed... and the little red light from a laser rifle sight is proof that the caller isn't kidding. Just to show he means business, the caller shoots a guy on the street and everyone assumes it's the Farrell character who did it. A sympathetic police captain (Forest Whitaker) senses something is amiss and really tries to keep the police from shooting the phone booth to pieces. The caller (played by Kiefer Sutherland) puts his mark into emotional hell as he brings his wife AND mistress into the conversation. The wife (played by "Pitch Black" star Radha Mitchell) and mistress (Katie Holmes) are then brought onto the scene, as the standoff plays out. The caller makes Farrell say and do things, in a bizarre one man jury. Schumacher keeps things moving pretty fast though I wish he could have added at least another fifteen minutes at the start to flesh out the characters a bit more. Otherwise, the fleeting 81 minute length is perfect for this story. The action mainly consists of watching Farrell in the booth react to the caller and for the most part, it works. This is economic movie making - low budget, one location, ten day shoot and (at the time of shooting) no big stars. So, yes, Schumacher makes up for "Bad Company", but "Phone Booth" isn't the unquestioned classic that will redeem him for "8MM".
81 Minutes
Fox 2000 Pictures/Fox