Film Review: Phone Booth (2002)

The simplest ideas are often the hardest to be put into practice. In 1960s famous screenwriter Larry Cohen had simple idea of having thriller that would entirely take place in phone booth. It was originally developed for Alfred Hitchcock, but actual production had to wait for few decades before Cohen found the proper plot that would justify that situation. The result was Phone Booth, 2002 film which is often considered one of the best in the career of its director Joel Schumacher.

The plot is set in New York City, which is opening narration described as place where millions of people use mobile phones, yet there are still those who use old school land lines, which are accessible via phone booths. Protagonist is Stuart “Stu” Shepard (played by Colin Farrell), arrogant and apparently successful publicist who use mobile phone both as status symbol and essential tool of trade. Yet, he also uses phone booths, and for very good reason. Mobile phones have records that might tell his wife Kelly (played by Radha Mitchell) that he likes long conversations with Pamela “Pam” McFadden (played by Katie Holmes), aspiring actress and one of his clients, whom he forgot to tell he was married. Following one such conversation, a phone at Times Square starts ringing and Stu instinctively answers. What awaits him on the other side is mysterious caller (voiced by Kiefer Sutherland) who apparently knows plenty of details about Stu’s private life and demands that Stu confesses his extramarital shenanigans to Kelly. When Stu refuses the caller raises ante by threatening that he would shoot him with sniper. Threat is very real and Stu sees that when Leon (played by John Enos III), pimp who tried to make phone booth available for his prostitutes, gets killed. Stu now has to deal with police and media that think of gim killer and must somehow explain NYPD Captain Ed Ramey (played by Forrest Whitaker) why he can’t leave the phone booth.

Cohen’s script contains some of the annoying cliches of late 20th Century Hollywood thrillers that include all-knowing all-powerful god-like psychopathic killer and arrogant yuppie who, during the ordeal, has to see the error of his ways and find redemption. Those motives, however, are still secondary to classic Hitchcockian concept of “ordinary man in extraordinary situation”. That “extraordinary situation” is made plausible with energetic direction of Joel Schumacher, film maker who felt the need of his own redemption following *Batman & Robin, catastrophe that nearly destroyed superhero film genre. Using Times Square as both agoraphobic and claustrophobic setting, Schumacher makes the plot unwind in real time and uses split screen, making the film like the episode of 24, stylish TV series that starred Kiefer Sutherland as the protagonist. Despite quick pace, the audience has opportunity to notice few interesting side characters, mainly street prostitutes and their unfortunate pimp. But it is Colin Farrell who shines in main role, playing character who begins as dislikeable arrogant yuppie only to start falling apart because of fear, shame and public humiliation. The audience begins to sympathise with him and is actually happy when he ordeal ends, despite very predictable twist near the end. Because of that, and thanks to short running time of 81 minutes, Phone Booth works as simple and easily digestible thriller, a kind Hollywood doesn’t make any more. Despite phone booths disappearing in era of telephony switching to mobile-only, its claustrophobic concept still works and it could be recommended even to younger generation of viewers.

RATING: 7/10 (+++)

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