The idea of building an entire movie plot around the confined setting of a phone booth sounded like an interesting, but challenging, concept. Phone Booth, the aptly titled 2003 thriller, manages to make that concept work.
The plot is simple: man takes call in phone booth. Caller turns out to be sniper with an agenda. That “agenda” is what makes the film intriguing. No, the sniper does not want money or an upper hand on the law; he wants Stu, the cocky young publicist played by Colin Farrell, to admit to his crimes.
We are plunged into Stu’s fast paced life from the movie’s beginning. Dressed in an Italian suit and speaking with a fusion Irish-New York accent, Stu jaunts down a busy street spouting instructions to his assistant, who trails hurriedly behind him.
Stu is young and powerful; he will stand his ground against anyone, make promises he will not necessarily keep, and curse out any defectors. But even this hard-nosed agent has a softer side. Enter Katie Holmes – aka, Mother of Suri – as the young singer, Pam, with high ambitions and the false impression that Stu is single.
Stu is, in fact, married to Kelly (Radha Mitchell). All of these key storyline points are revealed within the first ten minutes of the movie; quickly, we know that Stu is a little “too big for his britches.” And as one would surmise, Stu’s deception will have to reach a breaking point shortly.
Stu, who phones Pam in anonymity from a nearby phone booth (the phone booth), suddenly receives a knock on the door from a pizza delivery man. Stu refuses the pie.
Big mistake.
Enter The Sniper. The phone rings, Stu answers, and what follows is one of the most unnerving conversations anyone could ever endure. For a good hour, Stu is attached to that phone like a hospital patient hooked up to an IV, desperately trying to appease a mysterious sniper.
Uncharacteristic of typical hostage situations, this sniper has morality on the mind. Stu’s nonnegotiable route toward (possibly) surviving the ordeal is if he comes clean to the two women in his life. But even if Stu admits to his crimes of infidelity and his general character flaws, The Sniper, who sounds eerily like the costumed killer in Scream, will not guarantee anything.
Forest Whitaker portrays the police captain trying to resolve the standoff, but the heart of the film rests on Farrell’s shoulders. While Keifer Sutherland’s voiceover work as The Sniper had me waiting for him to say, “Hello, Sydney,” Farrell’s work is on the mark. His expressive voice and physical restlessness overcome the limitations of a small set.
Phone Booth is a tight, well-constructed, suspenseful movie. When action-based thrillers start to seem innocuous, try out a good psychological standoff.
