Phone Booth

December 10, 2004

Rated: R Runtime: 80 min Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

One quick way to figure out if a movie is going to suck or not is to look at its runtime. If the movie is less than 90 minutes long, there’s a very good chance you’ll want to skip it. Phone Booth takes this shortcut and throws it right out the window.

Phone Booth

Colin Farrell is Stu Shepard, a PR guy who lies to make a living. Not only that, he’s a rude, self-centered, insensitive, egotistical ass to everyone around him. Oh, and he’s the good guy in this movie. Kiefer Sutherland is the voice on the phone and even though he gets no real screen time, his performance is exceptional.

Here’s the setup. We get about 10 minutes of Stu walking through New York City talking on the phone and dealing with his apprentice where he finally ends up alone in a phone booth talking to a woman who isn’t his wife. After he gets off the phone, it rings. Of course, he picks it up only to find out the guy on the other end seems to know way too much about him. Stu finds out there’s a high-powered rifle aimed at him and proceeds to do exactly what the guy on the phone tells him to do.

Yeah, that does sound kinda boring, but it really isn’t. The pacing of the film is excellent and I’ll give director Joel Schumacher credit for keeping the running time of the film short. I mean, exactly how long could you sit in a theater and watch a guy standing in a phone booth?

Is the ending predictable? Yes. Are there any surprises in the plot? No. Are there some serious technical problems with the story? Yes. Will you have a good time watching it? Thanks to the excellent acting, yes. If you’ve got a couple hours to spare (and that includes watching previews and standing in line to get tickets) be sure to see Phone Booth, it’s worth your time if for no other reason than to hear Stu go off on the hookers.

Posted by John | Filed Under 4 Stars, Colin Farrell, Forest Whitaker, Katie Holmes, Keith Nobbs, Kiefer Sutherland, R, Theatrical, Thriller