Phone Booth

Starring Colin Farrell, Forest Whitaker, Radha Mitchell, Keifer Sutherland

Directed by: Joel Schumacher

Running time: 81 minutes

Playing at: Varsity

3 1/2 Gus heads

"Wow" was the first word that came to mind as the credits started to roll after "Phone Booth."

Colin Farrell is a phenomenal actor. After some impressive roles in "Hart's War" and the little-known "Tigerland" and even salvaging some entertainment in the otherwise lackluster flick "Daredevil," Farrell proves that he is one of the most talented actors in Hollywood right now.

Despite being quite short, "Phone Booth" is not only incredibly thrilling and suspenseful throughout but even emotionally moving at one point. What is truly amazing is that all these emotions are conveyed mainly from the dialogue of the two main characters on the line in a payphone booth for the duration of the entire movie.

"Phone Booth" begins with a slick, arrogant big city publicist, Stu Shepard (Farrell), walking down the sidewalks of New York City in a designer suit and sunglasses (on a very overcast afternoon). As Stu berates his young assistant/gofer as he talks on his cell phone to various clients and magazine editors that he is conning and deceiving, it becomes clear that he is a smooth-talking, clever, but devious person.

Then the first scene cuts into the setting for the rest of the film, a small section of a city block and a phone booth. One that a married Stu uses to call his mistress so he can avoid an incriminating cell phone bill scrutinized by his beautiful wife, Kelly (Radha Mitchell). Stu has a short conversation with his mistress, Pam, played by Katie Holmes, and then the phone rings and he curiously picks it up. On the other end is the daunting and sardonic voice of man that seems to know way too much about him. He is actually a sniper armed with a high-powered rifle with a red laser sight played masterfully by Keifer Sutherland.

The sniper has knowledge of Stu's dishonest, deceptive and unfaithful ways, with the intention of teaching Stu a lesson about life. Stu is kept on the line with the little red dot of the laser sight and the fact that if he hangs up, the sniper will kill him. Some may look at Sutherland's character as representing a ruthless God and the movie as a morality play.

When Stu is assaulted by the pimp of some disgruntled hookers that want to use the booth and the pimp is shot, hordes of police and television news teams show up and Stu realizes just how serious the threat is. That is when things get really interesting as Forest Whitaker comes on the scene as Capt. Ramey of the police force. Police snipers also take places above the booth and now Stu is lined up in several sets of crosshairs. Capt. Ramey negotiates with Stu as he is accused of the shooting, and it becomes evident that the sniper has planned the entire event to a T.

Now, Stu has to somehow convince police that he is unarmed and did not commit the shooting. But rather, he is dealing with an unseen and extremely intelligent sniper bent on providing a nightmarish day of atonement, introspection and penance for him. Stu will die if he tells police who he is talking to, so they have to try to figure that out for themselves, but Capt. Ramey seems to believe Stu's innocence from the beginning. Soon Stu's wife and his mistress show up and further complicate the situation. But it is all part of the sniper's plan. He wants to Stu to acknowledge that he is corrupt and dishonest and get him to confess everything to Kelly, Pam and the naïve clients he's been scamming as they will surely see him on the news.

With excellent performances by Farrell and an extremely underrated Sutherland and such a great concept, "Phone Booth" is easily one of the best films I've seen all year. It is unique and interesting in that it includes undertones of redemption and morality that are uncommon in the suspense/thriller genre.