Phone Booth

Rating:
Summary: Wow
Review: Just how many times I swore after I watched this movie for about fifteen minutes and when can I stop praising it once I've seen it all.
This movie is so great,it filled up the gaps Twilight Zone made.
Anyways, it is a story of a man who makes his living by lying to
people until he answers the phone from his favorite phone booth.
A wonderful plot and definitely a must see movie.

Rating:
Summary: Breathtaking Cinematic Experience...
Review: Phone Booth is projected with a real time sensation that offers thrills, and mind boggling situations and dialogues. Stu (Colin Farrell) works in public relations and he is about to call his girlfriend through a pay phone. On this occasion the pay phone rings and Stu answers. There is a voice that says that he will be killed if he hangs up, which is proven through a small red laser pointer on his chest. The caller is not ready to reveal why he called Stu, because the caller wants to play a little game before he tells Stu the truth. The story is short, yet it is psychologically loaded with threats that keep the audience on the line ready for anything to happen. Phone Booth offers a breathtaking cinematic experience.

Rating:
Summary: A memorable call: chaos always wins...
Review: Well, it's one of those rare times where I'm finding myself siding against the naysayers, who in my opinion failed to not only get the point but to also enjoy this great film.

I'll start with the objections this film stimulated and i'll take it on from there.
A lot of reviewers are asking why the sniper in the film is doing what he does to the man in the phone booth. But, that's a moot question folks, and it only proves that you're conditioned to believe that everything has a "logical" reason behind it. Newsflash: it doesnt. Remember the recent sniper incidents in Washington? What was the "logical" reason behind them? Or, what was the "logical" motive of those killers? Why do you accept irrationality in real life but yet you look for "reason" when this "irrationality" is shown to you in a film? You see the contradiction here?

"Phone booth" is about a sniper who's picked out his next victim (he's already killed 2) after he's found out a few things about his life (mainly that he's a professional liar -media publicist - and that he's cheating on his wife). With this "ace" up his sleeve the sniper traps his victim in a phone booth by demonstrating to him that he, the sniper, is an expert shooter, and that he's enough over the edge to make due on his threats if the victim doesnt comply with the sniper's demands. Also, if not more importantly, the sniper threatens to reveal all the ill-doings of the victim to those that have been enduring his lies. With the threat of his marriage falling apart and with his whole career also threatened with destruction the victim is forced to play along in a game of life and death but cat and mouse as well..

All this is layed-out in very convincing fashion by the scriptwriter and the director and it puzzles me that a few reviewers talk about plot-holes. Plot-holes? If someone can demonstrate to you that he's psychotic enough to gun you down for his own (whatever they might be) reasons and that he's good enough a shooter to manage it you would take your chances? You wouldnt be looking for such plotholes in real life, would you? Didnt think so.

This film is brillant on many plateaus if i may say so..First of all, the risky business of having the entire movie filmed from the perspective of a phone booth could've been a disaster in other hands but the whole film-team has done a great job preventing that from being the case.

The plot moves quickly with constantly reinventing itself, as the threats take new twists and as the sniper keeps using his intimate knowledge of the secrets of his victim to corner him even more. The arrival of the police at the scene after the sniper kills someone who attempts to "boothjack" the phone booth adds a new dimension to the victim's helplessness as they think that he is the killer, and thus, the victim realises that he's now got 2 fronts to deal with.

No need to go into the plot deeper. It will keep you watching unless you refuse (this time for YOUR own bizzare reasons to see that you'd be reacting in a very similar way in the victim's shoes in the film).
What's actually even more effective about the film is the cast. That, in its turn, is surprising as Farrel (the trapped booth guy) pulls out a great performance in portraying the scummy type who earns a living by daily spreading lies and financing his superficial but expensive lifestyle from them.

But the show is actually stolen by the "voice" (Kiefer Sutherland). The voice has a tone that sounds, at the very least, super convincing about the threat it delivers. Firm, dark, sarcastic when needed and constantly ominous with a confidence that..kills, Kiefer is perfect being on the other end of the line. The "voice" is best when it talks about what drives it: and what drives it remains obscure till the end which i thought was the right way to go. At times the voice becomes the moral angel of death but before you can believe that it turns again into being a chaotic force that does what it does, well, because it..can!

At a short, but steady and fast paced 80 minutes the "Phone booth" is actually amongst the top 3 thrillers of last year and one of the most intelligent recent films alltogether. Every element in it works and if there's one thing that seems to be taking the easy way out is the ending which i wont reveal here for obvious reasons. But even that is nothing that can subdue the power this film has.
Great, great stuff.

Rating:
Summary: Moral:Wear a Flak Jacket When Taking Stray Calls!
Review: Stu Shepard lives an extremely complex life while pretending to be somebody important. Feigning interest in people while attempting to use them, juggling a wife and a girlfriend while hoping to taste the best of both worlds, and portraying himself as something better than a publicist takes a lot of time and finagling. But stepping into that phone booth he's used time and again and answering an incoming call makes his situation all the more difficult to adjust to - and live through.

While watching Phone Booth, I - like the man in the booth - went through mood swings of my own. First I thought it was going to be a nice ride, liking the introduction of Stu and the things added to him that seemed to scream "sniper bait." The ego, the flash, and all the pretty words seem to state that someone might want to take revenge on our main character. Colin Ferrel actually seemed to fit the role, too, delivering a nice punch as a jerk, and I kept thinking that he would make a nice "victim" in a game that was certainly going to try to turn the tables on him. Then came the phone booth and the call, leading into the little games and all the hoops he was told to jump through, and I found myself going from a mindset of "that's not a good situaiton to be in" to wondering where this was going. Granted, the torment was fun at first and the research the shooter did was commendable. Still, the conversation and the deconstruction seemed almost pointless as everything moved forward. There was a lot of shouting, some "do what I say or else" comments spoken, but the progression didn't seem to have any really meaning attached. And next came the torment that just kept going on and on and on, and I kept wondering when it would finally end and let me out of the booth as well. Some situations that should have been tense showcased themselves more than once as they hoped for dramatic build and I found myself fighting the urge to fast forward some of those supposed tense scenarios. And when it ended I thought that the reasoning behind it was cold-blooded and made up for the stringing along effect I sat through, but the movie itself went on a tad too long and was hard to forgive.

This isn't to say that I found the movie without any substance and vacant, because there were some decent portions playing within the whole. The message within the bottle was a disturbing, sure, and the Sutherland as the bad guy gave him a bit of appeal. When it came down to presentation, however, the movie was nothing more than views from a scope, a phone booth, and some snapshots of a police roadblock. Development of the "why" involved wasn't really there, nor was the movie ever really focused on anyone save for the man in the booth. We only heard Sutherland's voice until the very end and didn't see anything to say who he was or why he did things, and Forest Whitaker served only as a way to try and bring conclusion and to play a cliché police role. So, would that mean I'm calling this a waste of time? No, I wouldn't go that far. I'd simply advise against seeing it unless you need something to watch, boredom and a lack of better movies to watch playing a key role therein, and can't keep your curiosity at bay.

Rating:
Summary: it isn't great
Review: i liked this movie but it was way too short for a five star review. i found out allot of ways to like this movie but my main reason was the succesful premise. it's suspenseful and it's got one of the best younger actors in it Colin Farrell. would i reccomend it? yes but be warned that it's only one hour and 15 minutes long but it wastes no time getting into the story and that's what makes it a good movie.

Rating:
Summary: A good performance !
Review: Bravo ! Filmed in only 10 days, it's for this fact a great performance.Colin Farrell surpasses himself and it's also in itself a performance. The plot is well temperated.Just think what you will do if it happened to you, nothing less or more than what you can see in the film. There is no useless heroism like in most of the Hollywood movies, no smarter guy, no super cop, no super hero, no moral and a very good movie at the end. For once, Hollywood shows no more than the reality and I hope we will be able to see more movies like that !

Rating:
Summary: A phone call to my grandmother is more entertaining....
Review: Only if watch this movie if you are:

A: Someone who wishes the phone calls in "Scream" were 88 min long
B: Tied-up as a hostage and given the choice to watch this or "Gigli"
C: A girl with a crush on Colin Farrell
D: In a mental hospital

Honestly, why would you want to watch someone talk on a phone for 88 minutes? "Phone Booth" is like they turned one of the phone calls from "Scream" into an entire movie. Thrilling? "No" Exciting? "Nope" Suspenseful? "No again" Pointless? "BINGO!" Come on, do you really want to watch a movie about some guy who talks in an annoying voice and wants to kill, of all people "a publicist", because "he has to pay for his sins"? (His sins being cheating and lying to his wife) Give me a break! Do yourself a favor and make a psychotic crank call to one of your friends instead of listening to the boring one that is "Phone Booth".

Rating:
Summary: "Hang up the Phone, and You're Dead." Good, Except Ending
Review: Joel Shumacher/Colin Farrell, team of "Tigerland" comes back with totally different premise. This time they are given a script from prolific (and perhaps underrated) B movie-king Larry Cohen.

Colin Farrell is Stu, New Work publicist who thinks the world goes around just for him. Then he gets an anomymous call at a phone booth; now he gets it, and the guy on the other side of the phone says: "If you hang up the phone, you are dead."

And this strange guy with malicious voice really means it, pointing a rifle at Stu's head from somewhere in the high building in New York City (actually, the film was shot mostly in LA). His wife and would-be mistress arrive at the scene, only to complicate the situation, but the criminal seems enjoying it, and continues to order Stu to do things he never dreamed of.

The film is short, which means a good thing. You cannot keep on forever, holding the attention of the audience in this way, and in fact, the little moralistic conclusion is diappointment. Thankfully, Colin Farrell (no matter what some people say) is a talented actor, and gives a credible performance as a guy trapped in this incredibly thankless situation.

The supports are Forest Whitaker, Radha Mitchell ("High Art""Pitch Black") and Katie Holmes, but their roles are smaller ones compared to his. Of more interest is the sniper's role, whose voice must have convincing sound. "24"'s Kiefer Sutherland is cast in that part, and it works in a terrific way.

Remember, "Phone Booth" is basically a B-movie. That doesn't mean it is bad; it means, the film has a terrific idea at the core of it, but extends it beyond its limit. At least, it is better than similar (and more complicated) "Liberty Stands Still" (featuring Wesley Snipes) as far as the tension goes. You get intense acting from Colin Farrell, intense camerawork (Matthew Libatique, "Pai") , and ... not so intense ending. And there, at the end, you remember it's a B movie.

Because of several incidents (like the real-life sniper), the release of "Phone Booth" had been delayed in USA. I don't know the film needed such treatment after all. It is just an entertainment. And a good one too.

Rating:
Summary: the best actor is the one you don't see
Review: Kiefer Sutherland is the voice of the sniper whom no one sees -- including Stu (Colin Farrell), the self-centered publicist in NY who gets caught in a phone booth, where he has stopped to make his daily phone call to Pam. Pam is a wannabe starlet to whom he has promised his services -- ALL of them --- and says he calls her from the phone booth because it is more private. But in truth it is because his wife Kelly checks his cell phone bills.

The sniper knows this, and has watched Stu for days as he makes a phone call to Pam every day from the same booth. He decides Stu should pay for his infidelity, even though he has not actually acted on it yet.

Thus starts a standoff in the middle of Times Square -- if Stu leaves the booth or hangs up, he will be shot. Soon Kelly, Pam the NYPD and several camera-wielding tourists surround Stu. He tries to get people to back off without telling them why to keep the sniper from shooting them as well. But Stu is in between a rock and a hard place -- the sniper wants Stu to confess to both Kelly and Pam with no guarantee of actually letting any of them go.

This movie was originally slated to come out in October 2002 when the DC sniper went on his spree, and so was pulled till later that winter. I thought of it as an in-depth look at one of the cases in the movie "Seven", where seemingly innocent people are randomly selected by a psychopath to atone for the sins they have committed (adultery is one of them, after all.) Although these psychopaths do like to overlook the fact that "Thou shalt not kill."

Sutherland is great as the faceless sniper ---he is acting with just his voice. He oozes evil with his laughs and mocking tones of Stu's trying to reason and bargain with him.

Rating:
Summary: I felt trapped watching this waste of time.
Review: So Colin Farrell is trapped in a phone booth for three days - well at least it seemed that long. This has got to be one of the lamest excuses for a thriller since waterworld. Maybe they should have put in a couple of gotta go to loo jokes to hightlight the absurdity of this dud.