Por um Fio

This is the kind of movie that is rare these days. It didn't cost an arm and a leg to make, it stars some good actors and the story line was plausible.

The Hitchcock influence is obvious and the pacing of the film was just right. This is the best work of director Schumacher. The lead could have been played by any yuppie looking actor but Colin Farrell does a good job anyway in a role that puts you in his character's place.

It's hard to make a movie work when it takes place in a confined space with few characters, but when those movies succeed, it shows. And that's how it is with "Phone Booth."

Colin Farrell is a self-professed star publicist with an attitude to boot. Watch 81 minutes of gut-wrenching nerve-wracking dialog reduce a pretentious "kiss my ass" punk into an enervated and regretful reprobate. Farrell is simply awesome in portraying the gravity of the situation. "The Caller"'s voice is absolutely worth a mention. Calm, creepy and authoritative! Something different and the movie would have fallen flat on its 'flab less' anterior. Sutherland plays 'The Caller', manning a high profile sniper rifle, while he thrusts honesty upon Stu Shephard (Colin Farrell). Frankly, I couldn't keep my eyes off the screen for a second.

Ebert himself was marvelled by the creativity of "Phone Booth". Why! It wasn't without good reason! A gaudy character stuck inside a phone booth in a busy locale, some good camera work, bunch of apartment windows, a psycho sniper and 10 days of excellent filming supported by a 'worth a mention' cast easily will manage to get into a good bundle of "top ten" lists. Fabulous entertainment and a good display of creativity. Graham Bell is still aiding marvels, I guess!

Stu Shepherd is in public relations and uses lies and deceit everyday in his job to get things moving. When calling a client from a phone booth in the hope of getting her to a hotel. When he hangs up the phone rings and he answers to what he assumes is a prank call. However the caller reveals more and more about Stu exposing his lies. When Stu tries to leave the caller reveals that he has Stu pinned down with a sniper rifle and the death of a man by the booth proves it. The police arrive and surround Stu while the caller continues his game.

Everyone knows that it had a small budget, a shooting window of just over a week and that it was made years ago and shelved as Farrell's star power increased and real life terrorist attacks and snipers came and went in the media and the mind of the American public. So I'll not dwell on that and instead talk of the film! The pitch was enough to get me interested – `man is held in phone box by sniper' – sounds great! I really wanted to see this film but was put off by the trailer, but not of the films I saw wrong in the trailer were to the detriment of the film as over 80-odd minutes it really runs like a race horse.

Starting with humour and a free-flowing pace it turns sinister early on but keeps the pace. In terms of plot it has many good twists and turns that will keep you interested and on the edge of your seat. The only issue for me was accepting why the sniper was doing it and how he was able to get access to the equipment he would have needed as well as the information – not to mention the WILL to do it! Also little things bugged me, but the film carries itself over these obstacles well enough and reservations are soon forgotten. It sounds simple but the simple ideas work best and, although low on action (sorry, teen boys!) it is driven by dialogue and simply not knowing what will come next.

The direction helps the film by constantly moving and using split screens etc to give the impression that a lot is going on at once – again making the film feel like it has a fast pace. It feels a little gimmicky (especially now that we've had 2 series of 24 doing the same thing) but it works regardless. I wrote in an old review (8mm I think) that I would never pay to see a Joel Schumacher film ever again, and I DIDN'T pay to see Phone Booth! However I was surprised because he didn't ruin it! He did a good job – yes, you heard me! His usual excesses seem to have been controlled by a good producer and editing team and the film works – much to my surprise and relief!

Farrell may not be a bona-fide Hollywood star yet but he takes the task of being onscreen for almost the whole film and runs with it. He makes a comically cruel character someone that reveals himself to be a loser but never loses the audience – and that takes talent. Sutherland's voice on the trailer didn't work for me (too normal and slow) but in the film he is excellent, like the director said, no-one else could have done the role, he is right for it. Whitaker makes up the third lead and he holds his corner well.

It may not be without the odd flaw but this film manages to be simple, gripping and very effective. Well worth a look.

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.

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