On P List of Movie Reviews
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Phone Booth (2002)
Rate:
9
Viewed:
2/22, 3/22
2/22:
When I thought Hollywood had nothing original to offer these days, here comes Phone Booth.
The plot is unique and highly inventive. It's Sweet Smell of Success meets
The Negotiator. Larry Cohen's script
is first-rate and should've gotten an Oscar nomination. Who would have thought the premise of an actor being stuck
in the phone booth for over an hour could be so exciting? The idea was originally pitched to Alfred Hitchcock during the 60's,
but he and Larry Cohen couldn't figure out a workable angle as to why the guy had to stay in the booth for so long.
This may be the best performance of Colin Farrell's career. He should've gotten an Oscar nomination.
A longtime player in Joel Schumacher's films, Kiefer Sutherland is effective in spite of not being seen 99% of the time.
Honestly, they shouldn't have used his face or name for the movie posters, DVD covers, etc. It ruins the element of surprise. Of
course, Forest Whitaker is great. These three are enough to make this 81-minute movie go by quickly.
The ending is terrific which almost never happens in movies when the villain simply gets away with it. For a while, I thought
Stu's assistant might have been involved with the plot...but nope although I wouldn't blame him.
All in all, Phone Booth is among the best movies Joel Schumacher has ever done.
3/22:
Phone Booth holds up well, and the plot is clever.
Colin Farrell is excellent, and it's a difficult performance to pull off, being stuck in the phone booth and using
as many acting tricks as possible. On the other end is Kiefer Sutherland who enlivens things. It's the best part of the
entire thing: their back-and-forth dialogue.
All in all, originally meant for Alfred Hitchcock, Phone Booth is the film that the Master of Suspense would've wanted
to direct.