Starring: Colin Farrell, Kiefer Sutherland, Forest Whitaker, Katie Holmes
Directed by: Joel Schumacher

This movie was barely 90 minutes long (if that), so this review will be short as well. Colin Farrell plays Stu, a busy New York agent who lies, deceives and cheats on his wife (among other strikes against him). Needless to say, he excels at his career. He calls his girlfriend froma pay phone and hangs up. Then the phone rings and he impulsively answers it, leading to that very phone booth being the only set the movie uses.

On the other end is Kiefer Sutherland's character who claims he has a gun aimed at Stu and will shoot him if he leaves the booth. The only way he will spare his life is if Stu fesses up to his wrong-doings. Stu thinks the guy's crazy, but the assassin on the other end proves he's serious by not only knowing way too much about Stu's personal life, but also by shooting some pimp outside the booth. The cops show up and think Farrell killed the guy. But Stu can't leave the booth or he get one between the eyes. What to do? What to do?

There are 4 possible outcomes for a movie like this: Both the guy in the hostage and the assassin live; they both die; one lives, the other dies or vice versa. Which will it be? I won't tell, but this is a really tense thriller. The suspense is always present. Farrell proves that he's a really good actor and we're going to definitely see huge things from him on the future (assuming he doesn't drink and carouse himself to death first) and Sutherland's unmistakable voice is perfectly creepy for the role. Forrest Whitaker as the police detective is excellent, as he usually is in anything he's in. The brisk runtime of the movie is actually appreciated. Since it takes place in realtime, if the movie were longer, the audience would get restless. We only have one location. Staying there for more time would drive people crazy. It's as long as it has to be. The movie knows when to end, which can't be said about many movies that drag on way too long.

Don't overlook Phone Booth. If you want a fun, suspenseful movie, check it out. Hopefully, it'll tide ou over a bit until the mega-blockbuster open.

DroopyMcC
Ten