Phone Booth (2002)

Director:

Joel Schumacher

Writer (WGA):

Larry Cohen (written by)

Release Date:

4 April 2003 (USA)

Genre:

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:

Psychological Thriller | Death | Psychopath | Real Time | Psycho Thriller

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

Also Known As:

Enlace mortal (Argentina) (Colombia) (Mexico) (Peru) [es]
Nicht auflegen! (Austria) (Germany) [de]
Телефонная будка (Russia) [ru]
Última llamada (Spain) [es]
Τηλε... Φονικος Θαλαμος (Greece) [el]
A Fülke (Hungary) [hu]
Cabine telefônica (Portugal) [pt]
Cabine, La (Canada: French title) [fr]
In linea con l'assassino - Phone booth (Italy) [it]
Phone Booth (Finland) [fi]
Phone Game (France) [fr]
Phone booth - In linea con l'assassino (Italy) [it]
Por Um Fio (Brazil) [pt]
Telefoniputka (Estonia) [et]
Telefonska govornica (Serbia) (original subtitled version) [sr]

MPAA:

Rated R for pervasive language and some violence.

Runtime:

81 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Swahili

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Brazil:14 | Iceland:16 (video rating) | Germany:12 (cut) | New Zealand:M | Malaysia:(Banned) | Iceland:14 | South Korea:12 | Sweden:11 | Philippines:PG-13 | USA:R (certificate #39201) | Netherlands:12 | 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:

Screenwriter Larry Cohen originally pitched the concept of a film that takes place entirely within a phone booth to Alfred Hitchcock in the 1960s. Hitchcock liked the idea, but he and Cohen were unable to figure out a plot reason for keeping the film confined to a booth. Once the idea of a sniper came to Cohen in the late 1990s, he was able to write the script in under a month.

Goofs:

Continuity: Stu's wedding ring disappears and reappears between shots in the scenes leading up to his big speech.

Quotes:

The Caller: [about Stu's wife, Kelly] You think she didn't know she was being watched.
Stu: What?
The Caller: But beautiful women always know. That false indifference, superior air. It's just a tease. They want eyes on them. Why does she put on her make up? Do her hair? Dress so nicely? Not for her husband which she hardly ever sees, no, it's for somebody else to notice... I notice.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Saturday Night Live: The Best of Tracy Morgan (2004) (V)

Soundtrack:

Operator

One Way To Get Your Message Across!

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