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...

Joel Schumacher (8 MM, FALLING DOWN) directs this suspense drama set in New York City's Times Square. A wannabe hotshot entertainment publicist who's more intent on posturing for his unpaid assistant than he is in actually working, Stu Shepherd (Colin Farrell) ducks into a phone booth to make his regular afternoon call to his girlfriend (Katie Holmes). Stu stops in the same phone booth at the same time every day to flirt with the young girl, who does not know that Stu is happily married with no intention of dating her seriously. When Stu says goodbye to his girl and sets down the receiver, he picks up a call from a threateningly sarcastic man with a deep voice. This man seems to have been tracking Stu's visits to this booth every day, and suddenly Stu knows that his secrets are no longer his own. Soon, the caller identifies himself as a sniper and begins shooting. Police are called in, and Stu must use his PR skills in a final test to get out of the booth, alive. This compelling drama, expertly crafted for maximum tension, will keep audiences nervously awaiting its outcome, unable to look away from the screen for even a moment.

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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

Aspect Ratio:	2.35 Anamorphic Wide Screen, 16:9 Anamorphic Wide Screen
Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Audio Commentary By Director Joel Schumacher, Featurette The Making Of Phone Booth
Year:	2003
Release Date:	August 11, 2003
Runtime:	78 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	22235 D V D
Keywords:	General, Phone, Thriller, Booth
Genre:	Thriller