Phone Booth

Phone Booth dials up its millennial tension through suspenseful confined calls. Joel Schumacher is a rather inconsistent director. Unusual, yet capricious. From ‘The Lost Boys’ to ‘Batman & Robin’, his career has been considerably scattershot in terms of quality. Phone Booth, whilst quintessentially being a product of its time, happens to be his most simplistic. An arrogant publicist is held hostage in a phone booth by a mysterious sniper who offers him an ultimatum.

A hyperbolised exercise in absolution from an absurdist’s perspective, Schumacher delivers a nail-biting thriller from the confinement of one besmirched public booth. Unscrupulous sex shops on one side of the grubby New York street, and a religiously inclined series of posters dictating “who do you think you are?” on the other side. It may just be a lightning paced disposable techno thriller to many, but if you divulge into the finer details you’ll notice it is overwhelmed with morality. The repentance of sins. Cleansing the soul from immorality. The harsh tones of Sutherland’s antagonistic voice, likening himself to a higher (or lower...) entity, offering Farrell’s Stu a chance for redemption. A surprisingly thematic endeavour for Schumacher, whether intentional or not, the religious symbolism in its subtle visuals or literary narrative were certainly profound.

It smooths out the neo-noir roughness that forces this thriller to be nothing more than disposable entertainment. Aside from Farrell’s strong performance as the arrogantly unlikeable Stu and Sutherland’s menacing tone, the supporting cast were mediocre at best. Whitaker, Mitchell and Holmes rarely had an opportunity to shine within the mucky street and had a tendency to overact. The act of forgiveness, whilst being a pivotal point to the whole ordeal, seemed incredibly vacuous without much deliberate intervention. All too easy, considering how long Stu kept his unfaithful behaviour up for. Cohen’s script was sharp and concise, occasionally...

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"Phone Booth" starts off a bit slow in the first act, but it quickly picks up the pace and becomes more intense as it goes along.

Colin Farrell and Forest Whitaker deliver fantastic performances that really bring the intensity to life. Kiefer Sutherland, who I know and love from 24, is chilling as the voice on the phone, adding a menacing layer even without much screen time.

What’s also impressive is that the whole movie was shot in just 10 days, with two extra days for some additional shots. It’s amazing they created such a suspenseful film in such a short time. Overall, I really enjoyed it!