In linea con l'assassino

Stu Shepard (Colin Farrell) uses a pay phone to call his mistress (Katie Holmes) and after he hung up the phone rings. He picks it up, of course, and learns that there is a sniper on the other side of the line. When he hangs up the sniper will shoot him, so he is told. Before he entered the booth we saw Stu talking on his cell phone as a PR-man, constantly lying to people. The sniper has observed Stu and thinks he deserves to die.

When the sniper demonstrates he is real by shooting a pimp near the booth the police arrives and thinks Stu is the shooter. Capt. Ramey (Forest Whitaker) slowly understands things are not as they seem.

Colin Farrell who is in almost every scene is great. First he looks so confident and slowly he becomes more and more desperate. The voice of the sniper (Kiefer Sutherland) is also perfect for the movie. It sounds calm but creepy, like a dangerous man who knows what he is doing.

The movie is not very long and here that is a very good thing. Scenes are not dragged to make the movie as long as most movies and therefor it doesn't get boring. It kept me on the edge of my seat. A very good thriller.

Anyone who doubts that people are as easily programmable as Pavlov's pets need look no further Graham Bell's little box. While most of us generally don't start salivating at the sound of a ringing phone, few people (unless they work for a software help desk) can resist the urge to answer one. Pray that the darkest force that dials your number is a telemarketer.

For Stu Shephard, sincerity is little more than a fuzzy concept. A shady publicist, his life consists of spinning interconnecting webs of lies to further the careers of clients and raise his stature. In his spare time he enjoys abusing his assistant, and ignoring his wife. Stu is, is also determined to give an impressionable young actress a test run on the casting couch. When he enters the one functioning pay phone in a ten-block radius in the hopes of setting up a liaison, the phone rings. It turns out to be Stu's conscience on the line. With a sniper rifle aimed at Stu's head.

When you take into account that `Phone Booth' was filmed in just ten days, on a limited budget with a dearth of special effects, one principle actor and a single venue you could be forgiven for questioning the potential success of this film. The original November 2001 release date might give one pause - films that sit on the shelf usually do so for a reason - read `straight to video'. In this instance the studio wanted to wait until Farrell was more familiar to moviegoers. He achieved this with a little film called `Minority Report' (the name of his co-star escapes me at the moment...). `Phone Booth's' new release date had to be pushed back once again after the sniping episodes in Washington. Some things are worth the wait.

While he stole the spotlight as the maniacal hit man in `Daredevil', Farrell is faced with a different animal in `Phone Booth', an 80-minute soliloquy which lives or dies on his performance (several A-list stars walked away from the project for this very reason). Reminiscent of his much-lauded turn in `Tigerland', Farrell confirms that he isn't a one trick pony, proffering a wide-ranging display of emotions, from cocky to cathartic without straying into soap opera or comic territory. He delivers his lines with a solid fluidity rare among his peers, no simple feat when one takes into account that he's suppressing a harsh brogue. Farrell also demonstrates a presence, beyond mere charisma - his good looks can only inspire interest for so long - that draw the viewer into the story.

While the supporting cast - Katie Holmes as the naive ingenue and Forrest Whitaker as the good cop - fulfill their purpose, it is Keifer Sutherland who takes up what little slack there is. While the audience doesn't get to see Sutherland, he is amply menacing as the cold, otherworldly voice on the other end of the phone. The audience is never privy to who he is (`Just call me Bob') or what his motives are, but it is inconsequential - he sees all, knows all, and is clearly in charge. Unlike S&M, there are no safe words. And for a control freak like Stu nothing could be more terrifying.

Although tied to a static location, deft camera work provides action, perspective and mood with such techniques as quick pans, compressed zooming, and picture in picture sequences, while careful not to cross the gimmickry line . Enhanced sound editing bolsters the visuals: ringing phones are jarring, Bob's quietly booming voice is unsettling, and the sound of a round being chambered is deafening.

`Phone Booth' could easily have been a quirky novelty flick that played well amongst the art house set. Thanks to Farrell's performance it makes for good mainstream cinema (normally an oxymoron) and may actually make a few top ten lists.

Phone Booth is described as a one location thriller. It delivers on what it's intended to be. The acting by Colin Farrell is very convincing as a person who gets a mysterious phone call regarding knowing everything about him. Keifer Sutherland is great as the mysterious caller. His voice fits perfectly and his delivery is top notch.

For a relatively smaller film, it is never boring. There is enough that occurs and the rest of the supporting cast are also solid.

The suspense and mystery regarding the caller is great and the buildup to the character keeps you on the edge. Somewhat of a confusing ending yet overall this film is highly entertaining and it's short run time works great.

I only looked at this because a friend loaned it to me so, at zero cost, what could I lose? Well, it was a lot better than I anticipated. Oddly, even though it's only 80 minutes long, I think this could have been better with about 10 minutes chopped off. It starts to repeat itself too much near the end. You have to remember, almost the whole film takes place within a phone booth!

Colin Farrell does a super job playing a sleazy guy held captive in the phone booth by a threatening sniper-caller. The story, although simple, holds your attention because there is great suspense, innovative camera-work, an involving story that hooks you in pretty fast and some great sound. I hope you have a surround sound system because the caller's (Keifer Sutherland) voice on the other end of the line is something to hear!

There is a big moral message in this film, too, about doing the right thing and paying for your sins, which Farrell sure did. It was really refreshing to hear that message, effectively told. Maybe some of us need a sniper to get the message across, but I hope not!

Are there holes in this story? Sure, but it's still good and has a cool ending. The only warning I would give readers here is the language: this is a very profane film with Farrell going overboard on the f-word. If that offends you, then stay out of this phone booth; otherwise, it's pretty entertaining

Director Joel Schumacher preserves his reputation with a script by Larry Cohen about personal morals and hopefully the truth providing some kind of redemption. This is a white knuckle nerve wrecker about a self-serving publicist(Colin Farrell)making the mistake of his life by answering a public telephone. On the other end of the phone is a self empowered mad man(Kiefer Sutherland) inflicting demands on the fast talking, fast thinking publicity dealer who just happened to be walking by the phone booth he passes every day. The mystery voice on the phone demands the publicist to stay in the phone booth until he tells his wife(Radha Mitchell)and the TV watching public of his cheating, lying and making use of others. Of course behind the demanding voice is a sharpshooter that is not afraid to pull the trigger. The senior officer on the scene(Forest Whitaker)tries to make sense of the situation while fighting back thoughts of his own past personal problems. At least 90% of this thriller is made up of witty, threatening and revealing banter between Farrell and Sutherland. And talk about a clever twist to end this flick. Also of note in the cast are: Katie Holmes, Richard T. Jones and Paula Jai Parker. Think twice about answering that ringing phone.