Phone Booth

When I heard the voice at the other end of the phone I immediately knew it was jack bauer.

Phone Booth_360P

Phone Booth

pourquoi il n'est pas en Français

This waste of celluloid... this thing called a film... this C- TV movie of the week seems to have been written and directed by the bottom of the barrel film school wanna-be's. Having to watch Colin "what's his name" on the phone for 80 minutes was, as others noted, gut wrenching. But gut wrenching as in if you were lactose intolerant but just had a big, cold glass of milk. This has to be his best comedy ever. I have to admit, I found myself hoping that Keifer's character would just shoot everyone on that street and put the audience of it's misery. The most memorable character was the cop that shot Colin "what's his name" in the gut with the beanbag. He was cool! Otherwise, I wouldn't suggest watching this movie unless you care to learn not how to shoot a movie. And oh yeah, don't even get me started on the narrator that seemed to have disappeared by the end of the film. If you really want a good crime drama, follow the producers of this film... they took the studios for quite a chunk of change.

it is amazing to me that this film wasn't trashed the moment people saw the screenplay. Then again, with only a 10 day film shoot, you can't have much time to think through whether this is a film that should actually come into existence. even the cast doesn't boast any superb acting ability (Forest Whitaker can be perfectly amazing and at times perfectly horrible). for anyone to think that you could make a good movie out of a lousy plot such as a man being made to stay in a phone booth and such a quick film shoot can't believe in good film-making of any kind. all in all it wasn't surprising how flat Collin Farrell's acting was and certainly wasn't surprising that a plot with a man stuck in a phone booth turned out to be 80 minutes of nothing but a man stuck in a phone booth. now if you like watching guys in phone booths then this is your movie, if not, don't bother. the betrayal this commits against thrillers is a crying shame, the sad truth when a movie is brought into existence in such a hurried fashion is that it cannot be of any true noteworthy value. film making takes time and effort, something very lacking in this attempt at film.

Oh My God This Movie Was So... Disappointing! What are the critics thinking praising this truly awful film? The situation was ridiculous. The sniper's motive were nonexistent. The acting was good, and the directing was stylistically novel, but this inane story was not only highly flawed, it was dull. I was hoping for twists (SPOILER i.e. the wife had done something bad and was the real target, and the whole film was a send up to that act; I mean come on - was his character really that flawed to warrant this action against him... he lied to people? I'm supposed to believe this was what he was being punished for?) As Colin Farrell should have exited the phonebooth after the first call - I should have exited the theater soon after.

There's a good reason many people never use public phones anymore. Is it 'cause a crazed sniper might be aiming a high power rifle at your heart? No, of course not. People don't like to use public phones because who knows what vile contagious filth is there to smear off onto you. And that's how I felt after sitting through this absurd turd, like I had been infected with something foul. I needed a long hot shower to get the horrible stink off me; the stink of shame for having allowed myself to be duped by its promise of something original, something real. A slick, vain, arrogant prick that's cheating on his lovely, angelic wife? That's not so original. Oh right, he hasn't cheated yet, but he was JUST about to. HA!! And his lovely, angelic wife might happen to check his cell phone 'cause apparently he can't be trusted. Wait a minute. If she's so pure and wonderful why would she be creeping on him? Not really explained. And the idea of him not having a secret throw away cell phone for his illicit activity is beyond idiocy. There's just no way around that enormous gaping hole in the story. But it didn't stop the imbecilic writers from trudging on with their tedious odyssey. There's a primal pleasure that this crappy film wants to cater to - the desire to see innocent unsuspecting people exterminated for no good reason - but it retreats from this challenging idea so meekly. Senseless unconditional mayhem is a more honest premise for a movie than the con job this one pulls in needing us to believe that the sleaze ball PR agent might actually deserve to be shot dead. It's so cowardly of the people responsible for this ridiculous film to hide behind this idea. That they must justify their gratuitous mayhem with a moral cause is just pandering to the hypocrites, and that's the definition of depraved. When I annihilate pedestrians when I'm playing Grand Theft Auto I get such a rush. I don't first concoct back stories for each victim of how they have disgraced themselves hopelessly and my mortal violence is an act of divine justice (although that actually sounds like a good premise for a movie). I just love to blow 'em away! That's what a guilty pleasure is all about. But no, in the moral universe of this sad film only the nasty, evil pimp Leon is executed. We all know he was going to hell anyway, right? Stupid premise, stupid script, stooopid ethics. And stupid me for sitting through this slop till the end. Oh Christ, just talking about it makes me feel slimy. I gotta take another long hot shower...

Director Joel Schumacher preserves his reputation with a script by Larry Cohen about personal morals and hopefully the truth providing some kind of redemption. This is a white knuckle nerve wrecker about a self-serving publicist(Colin Farrell)making the mistake of his life by answering a public telephone. On the other end of the phone is a self empowered mad man(Kiefer Sutherland) inflicting demands on the fast talking, fast thinking publicity dealer who just happened to be walking by the phone booth he passes every day. The mystery voice on the phone demands the publicist to stay in the phone booth until he tells his wife(Radha Mitchell)and the TV watching public of his cheating, lying and making use of others. Of course behind the demanding voice is a sharpshooter that is not afraid to pull the trigger. The senior officer on the scene(Forest Whitaker)tries to make sense of the situation while fighting back thoughts of his own past personal problems. At least 90% of this thriller is made up of witty, threatening and revealing banter between Farrell and Sutherland. And talk about a clever twist to end this flick. Also of note in the cast are: Katie Holmes, Richard T. Jones and Paula Jai Parker. Think twice about answering that ringing phone.

Guys the movie is okay but the things that are missing and that just felt short is first, the reason why the sniper did all these, second he is sitting either on this side or that side, how come he can see from any direction, and third why the Stu was the target. If the story shouldve been written better, this movie wovldve been an epic. But guess what the movie is short on story and sense. I'm not saying don't watch it is a good entertainment but don't be looking up for any kind of story.