Farrell and Sutherland deliver such strong performances that it's easy to overlook the script's melodramatic dialogue and insane lapses of reality.
Phone Booth (2003)
Tomatometer
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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
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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Reviews for Phone Booth
'Enlace Mortal es un sólido thriller que representa una de las mejores opciones de escapismo que han llegado a las pantallas en lo que va del año. Verdaderamente recomendable.'
Phone Booth is a movie completely disconnected from what suspense should be like.
Um suspense bem realizado que se beneficia principalmente da personalidade fascinante de seu vilão.
As a cinematic experiment, Phone Booth is a resounding success. Even with its shortcomings, the film is destined to do well at the box office if only on the sheer charisma of Farrell.
...there's no denying that Phone Booth is mostly an exemplary thriller...
A sloppy film filled with cheap moralizing. The plot holes are so large it's a good thing the streets were shut off from traffic.
. To use phone language, it doesn't put you on hold for one second. .
Raises more questions than it answers as it attempts to convince us that a moralistic sniper would torture a sleazy publicist into tears of guilt and remorse over what amounts to a few paltry, venial sins.
Phone Booth is not rocket science. In fact, it's a popcorn movie, but it's a popcorn movie of rare quality.
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.
The screenplay, by Larry Cohen, shows the confidence of a writer who knows he has a terrific starting point and plans to squeeze out every last drop of inspiration.
My appreciation extends to the creators who, instead of falling in love with their creation, keep it going only as long as its suspense is sustainable, turning in that rare film that plays under 90 minutes.
A modern morality tale complete with Kiefer Sutherland as God's voice. Okay, so he's a sniper on the other end of the phone, but with the things he says and the stereo sound he might as well be the Almighty.
Being browbeaten into learning someone else’s values is almost as off-putting in narrative fiction as when it occurs in life.
The premise is admittedly a killer -- fun to think about, fun to see realized, not so fun to see screwed up in the last half-hour.
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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