Phone Booth (2002)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Joel Schumacher

Writer (WGA):

Larry Cohen (written by)

Release Date:

4 April 2003 (USA)

Genre:

Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

A ringing phone has to be answered.

Plot:

Stuart Shepard finds himself trapped in a phone booth, pinned down by an extortionist's sniper rifle.

Plot Keywords:

Publicist | Sniper | Sniper Rifle | Hostage | Extortionist

Awards:

7 nominations

Cast

Colin Farrell	...	Stu Shepard
Kiefer Sutherland	...	The Caller
Forest Whitaker	...	Captain Ed Ramey
Radha Mitchell	...	Kelly Shepard
Katie Holmes	...	Pamela McFadden
Paula Jai Parker	...	Felicia
Arian Waring Ash	...	Corky (as Arian Ash)
Tia Texada	...	Asia
John Enos III	...	Leon
Richard T. Jones	...	Sergeant Cole
Keith Nobbs	...	Adam
Dell Yount	...	Pizza Guy
James MacDonald	...	Negotiator
Josh Pais	...	Mario
Yorgo Constantine	...	ESU Commander

MPAA:

Rated R for pervasive language and some violence.

Runtime:

81 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Swahili

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #39201) | Sweden:11 | Iceland:14 | Iceland:16 (video rating) | Netherlands:12 | Malaysia:(Banned) | Germany:12 (cut) | South Korea:12 | Philippines:PG-13 | Brazil:14 | New Zealand:M | Australia:MA (original rating) | Australia:M (re-rating on appeal) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A | Finland:K-15 | Mexico:B15 | Norway:15 | Singapore:NC-16 | Singapore:PG (cut) | UK:15 | Portugal:M/12 | Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Fox 2000 Pictures

Trivia:

Extras hadn't read the script, so most of their reactions are genuine.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Captain Ramey has a New York City Police Department Detective's badge (wrong rank).

Quotes:

The Caller: I have no use for you Stu.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "Saturday Night Live: Ray Romano/Zwan (#28.17)" (2003)

Soundtrack:

Six Days (Remix featuring Mos Def)

Taught, Original, Daring, very entertaining

I saw the premiere of "Phone Booth" at the 2002 Toronto International Film Festival, and I LOVED IT! It's unusual for a feature like this to even show at the TIFF, which should say something about it. I know it sounds like a hard sell. The whole thing takes place outside a phone booth in Manhattan, and it was shot in 10 days for less than 2 million dollars. But this movie is electric. It BLEW ME AWAY! Stuart `Stu' Shepard (Colin Farrell), a sleazy publicist, uses this phone booth to call his girlfriend, because his wife checks his cell phone bills. The phone rings, and when he picks it up, all hell breaks loose. The voice on the other end (Kiefer Sutherland is just terrifying) warns him that if he leaves the booth he will be killed. At first Stu doesn't believe him, but we find out pretty quick that his life is in real danger, and the stranger on the other end of the line knows EVERYTHING about Stu and his life. Then the police show up, (Forest Whitaker is wonderful as always as the cop in charge) and order Stu out of the booth. I spent the next hour on the edge of my seat. I don't want to give anything more away, but it is one of the most suspenseful movies I've seen in a very long time! You should go see this movie! I don't think it's going to get a very big release, even though it's directed by Joel Schumacher (St. Elmo's Fire, Flatliners, Batman and Robin, 8mm, Tigerland). Schumacher was at the screening, and he talked about how a number of different actors (including Mel Gibson) and directors had been attached to the script, and it had taken years to get it to the screen. He was able to do it with Colin Farrell after 20th Century Fox exec's saw him in `Tigerland' and decided to take a chance. But he's still not considered a `big' star. And Kiefer only came to the project at the end (though Schumacher said he was the only guy for the role, and I agree), and you don't see him much. So the movie may not get much of a push when it comes out. Don't let that dissuade you. If you like a good ride, you should go see this movie.