Phone
Booth Answers the Call
Phone
Booth Answers the Call
I went into Phone Booth looking to find logic flaws. I was just in one
of those moods. You have this really great set-up. Scumbag entertainment publicist
Stu Shepard (Colin Farrell) answers a call in a Manhattan phone booth.
On the other end is a madman who has a sniper's rifle aimed right at him from
some distant high-rise. He tells Stu that if he hangs up, he'll shoot him. Then,
he shoots a random guy on the street to prove his point.
Stu starts to believe him, fear him. You would, too.
Then, the caller starts to tell Stu personal stuff about him. He knows's Stu's
name, his wife's name, his address, where he works, and where he plays. He also
knows the bad things Stu has done. The lies, the manipulations, the woman (Katie
Holmes) he wants to have an affair with. Then, the police arrive. After
all, a dead body on the streets of New York will only go unnoticed for so long.
The police immediately suspect Stu, who can't get off the phone because the
sniper will kill him. The caller proves his point by placing a red dot, the
laser-sighting from his rifle, right on Stu's chest.
Before long, the news crews also show, sniffing a sensationalist story of O.J.
proportions. Both Stu's wife (Radha Mitchell) and girlfriend see the
coverage and come to the scene. Now, they're targets, too. What does the caller
want? Only for Stu to stay on the line and come clean about the people he has
wronged.
Phone Booth is one top-notch thriller, folks! Directed by Joel Schumacher,
the film is tight, taut, and very well-acted. Schumacher does an outstanding
job placing you right there at the scene of Stu's dilemma, and Farrell has his
best role to date as the frightened, yet still-arrogant target. The film is
told seemingly in real time, and the fact that the voice on the other end of
the line is that of Kiefer Sutherland of 24 fame makes the movie
work almost on a fourth-dimensional level. Excellent friggin' movie!
And, amazingly, I had no big logic nitpicks. The film has a running time of
around 90 minutes, but I swear it felt like half that time. That's amazing in
itself, considering Farrell is standing in place in that phone booth for at
least 90 percent of the film. Again, this is a credit to both the actor and
the filmmaker. And Sutherland has just the perfect voice to pull off the psycho
caller. Think the slow, menacing cadence of Hannibal Lecter crossed with the
soothing tones of a late-night love line DJ. Sutherland gives the caller a biting
sarcasm and a penetrating intelligence that is just cool. He plays mind games
with Stu constantly from his God perch. Because he has thought through exactly
what he wants to do, the audience is confident that the movie's screenwriters
have, as well.
Some may say that Stu is too much an S.O.B. for the audience to really care
about him. But I disagree. An opening sequence that shows him wheeling and dealing
with several magazine publishers, agents, and a white rapper shows that the
guy is quick, intelligent, and quite cold-hearted himself. I would much rather
see THAT guy match wits with the mind-screwing sniper than some blubbering family
man constantly pining for audience sympathy. The sniper basically deconstructs
Stu, stripping him of his swagger and his bravado until all that is left is
who the guy really is.
This movie was delayed last fall because of the sniper shootings in my area,
the Washington, D.C.-Baltimore corridor. I went through several weeks feeling
like I was in a sniper's scope while getting gasoline, going to the store, and
visiting friends and family. This was a good decision on the part of 20th Century
Fox, because the film is so psychologically intense. I guess if I had one problem
with the film, it is the way-over-the-top foul language. I'm not a prude by
any means, and I know situations like the one depicted in the film lend itself
to everyone going, "Oh, F***! F***! F***!!!" But when that is all
the characters are saying for long stretches and you start to have people noticing
the language in spots, it draws you out of the film somewhat.
But this is a minor nitpick that will only taint the experience of seeing Phone
Booth for some. For the most part, the movie works beautifully. It even
answers the question: "Hey, there are no phone booths left in Manhattan!
What gives?" I mean, seriously. You remember the original Superman
movie with Chris Reeve? Remember that first gag of Clark Kent trying
to find a phone booth and finally having to change into his tights in a revolving
door? That was 1978!!! Phone Booth maintains that this is the last phone
booth left in the Big Apple. Let's hope this is not the last time this year
we see a thriller as good as this one.
Phone Booth is rated R for profanity and violence.
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