Publicist Stuart Shepard finds himself trapped in a phone booth, pinned down by an extortionist's sniper rifle. Unable to leave or receive outside help, Stuart's negotiation with the caller leads to a jaw-dropping climax.
Stu Shepard is a fast talking and wise cracking New York City publicist who gets out of trouble and lies with his clever charm, connections, and charisma. Stu's greatest lie is to his wife Kelly, who he is cheating on with his girlfriend, Pam. Upon answering a call in a phone booth in belief it is Pam, Stu is on the line with a dangerous yet intelligent psychopath with a sniper rifle. When realizing it is not a joke, Stu is placed in a powerful mind game of wits and corruption. The New York City Police eventually arrive thereafter and demand Stu comes out of the phone booth- but how can he when if he hangs up or leaves the booth he will die?Written by
commanderblue
The hookers freak out after thinking Stu shot the pimp, which is odd as Stu had been assaulted by a larger man with a baseball bat. Even if Stu had been the shooter it is odd they would be surprised someone defended themselves. See more »
Six Days
(Remix featuring Yasiin Bey)
Written by DJ Shadow (as Josh Davis) and Brian Farrell
Performed by DJ Shadow
Courtesy of Universal-Island Records Ltd.
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises
(Contains a sample of "Six Day War"
Performed by Colonel Bagshot with vocals featuring Kenneth Perry
Courtesy of Splash Records Ltd.) See more »
I saw the premiere of "Phone Booth" at the 2002 Toronto International Film Festival, and I LOVED IT! It's unusual for a feature like this to even show at the TIFF, which should say something about it. I know it sounds like a hard sell. The whole thing takes place outside a phone booth in Manhattan, and it was shot in 10 days for less than 2 million dollars. But this movie is electric. It BLEW ME AWAY! Stuart `Stu' Shepard (Colin Farrell), a sleazy publicist, uses this phone booth to call his girlfriend, because his wife checks his cell phone bills. The phone rings, and when he picks it up, all hell breaks loose. The voice on the other end (Kiefer Sutherland is just terrifying) warns him that if he leaves the booth he will be killed. At first Stu doesn't believe him, but we find out pretty quick that his life is in real danger, and the stranger on the other end of the line knows EVERYTHING about Stu and his life. Then the police show up, (Forest Whitaker is wonderful as always as the cop in charge) and order Stu out of the booth. I spent the next hour on the edge of my seat. I don't want to give anything more away, but it is one of the most suspenseful movies I've seen in a very long time! You should go see this movie! I don't think it's going to get a very big release, even though it's directed by Joel Schumacher (St. Elmo's Fire, Flatliners, Batman and Robin, 8mm, Tigerland). Schumacher was at the screening, and he talked about how a number of different actors (including Mel Gibson) and directors had been attached to the script, and it had taken years to get it to the screen. He was able to do it with Colin Farrell after 20th Century Fox exec's saw him in `Tigerland' and decided to take a chance. But he's still not considered a `big' star. And Kiefer only came to the project at the end (though Schumacher said he was the only guy for the role, and I agree), and you don't see him much. So the movie may not get much of a push when it comes out. Don't let that dissuade you. If you like a good ride, you should go see this movie.
142 of 179 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
| Report this
I saw the premiere of "Phone Booth" at the 2002 Toronto International Film Festival, and I LOVED IT! It's unusual for a feature like this to even show at the TIFF, which should say something about it. I know it sounds like a hard sell. The whole thing takes place outside a phone booth in Manhattan, and it was shot in 10 days for less than 2 million dollars. But this movie is electric. It BLEW ME AWAY! Stuart `Stu' Shepard (Colin Farrell), a sleazy publicist, uses this phone booth to call his girlfriend, because his wife checks his cell phone bills. The phone rings, and when he picks it up, all hell breaks loose. The voice on the other end (Kiefer Sutherland is just terrifying) warns him that if he leaves the booth he will be killed. At first Stu doesn't believe him, but we find out pretty quick that his life is in real danger, and the stranger on the other end of the line knows EVERYTHING about Stu and his life. Then the police show up, (Forest Whitaker is wonderful as always as the cop in charge) and order Stu out of the booth. I spent the next hour on the edge of my seat. I don't want to give anything more away, but it is one of the most suspenseful movies I've seen in a very long time! You should go see this movie! I don't think it's going to get a very big release, even though it's directed by Joel Schumacher (St. Elmo's Fire, Flatliners, Batman and Robin, 8mm, Tigerland). Schumacher was at the screening, and he talked about how a number of different actors (including Mel Gibson) and directors had been attached to the script, and it had taken years to get it to the screen. He was able to do it with Colin Farrell after 20th Century Fox exec's saw him in `Tigerland' and decided to take a chance. But he's still not considered a `big' star. And Kiefer only came to the project at the end (though Schumacher said he was the only guy for the role, and I agree), and you don't see him much. So the movie may not get much of a push when it comes out. Don't let that dissuade you. If you like a good ride, you should go see this movie.