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Movies / On DVD / Phone Booth
Phone Booth

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Phone Booth (2003)

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Reviews Counted:182

Fresh:130

Rotten:52

Average Rating:6.6/10

Consensus: Quick pacing and Farrell's performance help make Phone Booth a tense nail-biter.

Rated: R [See Full Rating] for pervasive language and some violence

Runtime: 1 hr 42 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:Apr 4, 2003 Wide

Box Office: $46,524,362

Synopsis: Red-hot superstar Colin Farrell ("Daredevil," "The Recruit") toplines the thriller PHONE BOOTH, from director Joel Schumacher. A phone call can change your life, but for one man it can also end it.... Red-hot superstar Colin Farrell ("Daredevil," "The Recruit") toplines the thriller PHONE BOOTH, from director Joel Schumacher. A phone call can change your life, but for one man it can also end it. Set entirely within and around the confines of a New York City phone booth, PHONE BOOTH follows Stu Shepard (Colin Farrell), a low-rent media consultant who is trapped after being told by a caller - a serial killer with a sniper rifle - that he'll be shot dead if he hangs up.

What do you do when you hear a ringing public phone? You know it's a wrong number, but instinct forces you to pick it up. A ringing phone demands to be answered, but when Stu Shepard takes the call, he finds himself hurtled into a tortuous game. Hang up, says the caller (Kiefer Sutherland), and Stu's a dead man.

A sudden and shocking act of violence near the booth draws the attention of the police, who arrive backed with a small army of sharpshooters. They believe that Stu, not the unseen caller of whom they remain unaware, is the dangerous man with a gun.

The senior officer on the scene, Captain Ramey (Forest Whitaker), tries to talk Stu out of the booth. But unbeknownst to Ramey, his team, the media circus that has flocked to the site - and Stu's wife, Kelly, and his client /prospective girlfriend, Pamela - the caller has them all in his high-powered rifle sights.

As afternoon turns into evening, Stu, the embodiment of an unethical, self-serving existence, must now undertake a sudden and unexpected moral evolution. He is emotionally stripped naked by the caller. Stu's lies, half-truths, and obfuscation no longer matter. Instead, he must dig deep into his soul, find his strength and attempt to outwit the caller, taking the game to an even more dangerous level. -- © Fox [More]

Starring: Colin Farrell, Forest Whitaker, Kiefer Sutherland, Katie Holmes

Starring: Colin Farrell, Forest Whitaker, Kiefer Sutherland, Katie Holmes, Radha Mitchell, Tia Texada, Richard T. Jones

Director: Joel Schumacher

Director: Joel Schumacher
Screenwriter: Larry Cohen
Producer: David Zucker, Gil Netter
Composer: Harry Gregson-Williams
Studio: 20th Century Fox

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Release:

Jul 8, 2003

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Reviews for Phone Booth

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1 - 20 (sorted by source)
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Click to read the article

Full Review Source: 3BlackChicks Review | comment Comment
04/07/03
Kamal  'The Diva' Larsuel
Kamal 'The Diva' Larsuel
3BlackChicks Review

Any less of a charismatic leading actor and this film would have been dead within the first 15 minutes.

Full Review Source: About.com | comment Comment
04/03/03
Rebecca Murray
Rebecca Murray
About.com

This is the kind of thriller I most enjoy seeing - one that really pulls me in, makes me feel the danger, and keeps me thinking on my way out the door.

Full Review Source: Aisle Seat | comment Comment
04/06/03
Mike McGranaghan
Mike McGranaghan
Aisle Seat

Like a cold-blooded sniper, it’s right on the mark.

Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | comment Comment
04/04/03
Brian Webster
Brian Webster
Apollo Guide

A tough one to shake from the memory.

Full Review Source: Arizona Daily Star | comment Comment
04/04/03
Phil Villarreal
Phil Villarreal
Arizona Daily Star

A passable thriller.

Full Review Source: Arizona Republic | comment Comment
04/04/03
Bill Muller
Bill Muller
Arizona Republic
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Phone Booth exists to demonstrate that Colin Farrell can carry a movie ... good to know, I guess, but. .. superfluous information for anyone who’s had the good fortune to catch the under-seen Tigerland.

Full Review Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette | comment Comment
03/31/03
Philip Martin
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Not only lacks the thrills and drama one might hope, it's not even half as terrifying as those Carrot Top commercials for AT&T.

Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution | comment Comment
04/03/03
Bob Longino
Bob Longino
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It's a movie perfectly designed for tossing back popcorn.

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
04/07/03
Marjorie Baumgarten
Marjorie Baumgarten
Austin Chronicle

A slick, occasionally tense thriller about the potentially deadly ramifications of forgetting one's manners and losing one's morals.

Full Review Source: Bangor Daily News (Maine) | comment Comment
04/08/03
Christopher Smith
Christopher Smith
Bangor Daily News (Maine)

An impressive genre entertainment -- forgettable but gripping; slight but deadly.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
02/26/03
Nev Pierce
Nev Pierce
BBC

boasts a single-note plot that evokes tension from its earliest moments and carries it through its svelte 80-minute running time.

Full Review Source: Beach Reporter (Southern California) | comment Comment
04/07/03
Brian J. Arthurs
Brian J. Arthurs
Beach Reporter (Southern California)

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Big Picture Big Sound | comment Comment
12/27/07
Joe Lozito
Joe Lozito
Big Picture Big Sound

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Blunt Review | comment Comment
04/04/03
Emily Blunt
Emily Blunt
Blunt Review

Short, suspenseful, funny, and profane.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
04/04/03
Ty Burr
Ty Burr
Boston Globe

Essentially B-movie material jacked up to a hysterical pitch by Joel Schumacher.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
09/27/02
Kevin Courrier
Kevin Courrier
Boxoffice Magazine

Almost every flick now is two hours and too long. But at only 80 minutes, “Phone Booth” managed to have all the excitement, emotions, and humor it needed.

Full Review Source: Broomfield Enterprise | comment Comment
04/30/03
Dan Marcucci and Nancy Serougi
Dan Marcucci and Nancy Serougi
Broomfield Enterprise

Schumacher tightens the screws for just long enough -- 80 minutes, including credits - to provide a bundle of fast thrills.

Full Review Source: Charlotte Observer | comment Comment
04/03/03
Lawrence Toppman
Lawrence Toppman
Charlotte Observer

The movie is Farrell's to win or lose, since he's onscreen most of the time, and he shows energy and intensity.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
04/04/03
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A lean, mean tension machine, setting up its premise, executing it with smarts, throwing in enough twists to keep things interesting, and wrapping it up before anyone can get fatigued or reflective.

Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment Comment
04/03/03
Mark Caro
Mark Caro
Chicago Tribune
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
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Latest News for Phone Booth

July 20, 2007: Larry Cohen Plans Remakes of It's Alive, Black Caesar, and The Stuff
Long before he wrote movies like "Phone Booth," "Cellular," and (ugh) "Captivity," filmmaker Larry Cohen was making horror movies about killer babies. And (guess what?) he just... More...

February 07, 2007: Joel Schumacher Wants to Direct Neil Gaiman's "Sandman"???
At last year's Comic Con, writer/artist Neil Gaiman said "I'd rather no Sandman movie got made than [to have] a bad Sandman movie." And now comes word that director... More...

January 19, 2006: Critical Consensus: "Spear," "New World" Are OK, Not Great
This week at the movies brings us three culture clashes: Native Americans and Europeans ("The New World"), the Waodani people of Ecuador and a group of missionaries... More...

May 09, 2005: Elisha Cuthbert Bound for "Captivity"
Variety brings news of the currently young and hot Elisha Cuthbert's next big role. Only a few days removed from the opening of her "House of Wax," Ms. Cuthbert has... More...

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