Stars: Colin Farrell, Kiefer Sutherland, Forest Whitaker, Radha Mitchell, Katie Holmes, Richard T. Jones, John Enos

Director: Joel Schumacher

Summary: Self-centred, arrogant, public relations man, Stu Sheppard goes into a phone booth to call his mistress without his wife knowing. As soon as he hangs up, the phone rings and he hears a stranger's voice telling him that if he tries to leave the booth he will be shot dead... He starts to believe what he is hearing when a man tries to get in the booth and is gunned down...

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For a film confined almost entirely to one tiny location, Phone Boothhas been the centre of a lot of off-screen action: changing lead man from Will Smith to Jim Carrey to Colin Farrell, with various directors attached, and finally postponed as a result of the Washington Sniper attacks--and all this before its release. Still, Larry Cohen's taut 80-minute script finally hits the screens and, as public utility-based thrillers go, it's pretty gripping stuff.

Colin Farrell plays slick and obnoxious PR man Stu Shepard who picks up a ringing payphone only to be informed by a mysterious sniper (Keifer Sutherland) that there's a gun pointed directly at him. What Stu initially believes to be a joke turns about to be a vendetta from the sniper who objects to married Stu's philandering ways, and it soon escalates into a prime-time TV siege.

Joel Schumacher's energetic direction--employing some snappy editing and nifty split-screen techniques--helps distract from an uneven and often predictable plot. It's easy for the audience to think of a dozen ways this siege could be averted, but by upping the tension stakes Schumacher still makes it fun to watch.

Colin Farrell gives a compelling central performance, which runs the emotional gamut from anger to fear to anguish and even carries off a cheesy absolution scene. Keifer Sutherland's husky baddie voiceover is not exactly the stuff of nightmares but, like the rest of the film, you could do a lot worse. As a pure popcorn thriller, Phone Boothhits all the right buttons. --Laura Bushell

Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Year:	2003
Release Date:	August 11, 2003
Runtime:	78 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	22235 R D V D
Keywords:	General, Phone, Thriller, Booth
Genre:	Thriller