♥ Forever and Always. ♥ x Thank you for your RRC's. Always Appreciated lots & lots! :)
♥ Forever and Always. ♥ x Thank you for your RRC's. Always Appreciated lots & lots! :)
Member since:24.02.2006
Reviews:136
Members who trust:153
◘ PHONE BOOTH.◘
***A ringing phone has to be answered***
' Do unto others' is very much the cautionary tale here. Phone Booth is a Morality/Thriller. A concept Movie made in 2003, and starring Colin Farrell in a near on one man performance. Phone Booth is set In New York City, and it is set in real time.
► SYNOPSIS ◄
◘ The Film is set almost entirely in a Phone Booth and stars Colin Farrell as an Entertainment publicist/Entrepreneur who is on the up and up at the expense of anyone who gets in his way. Caught up in his own hype, he lives his life full steam ahead, brushing people aside as he goes. His character is cocky, selfish and arrogant, yet he is a likeable roque. I found myself warming to the man who was so wrapped up in himself he had lost sight of his Marriage and his morals. On that fateful day he steps into a Phone Booth to make a private phone call, slipping his Wedding ring off his finger as he prepares to dial, the phone in the booth starts to ring! ~ Would you answer a ringing phone?~ His decision to pick up the phone changes his destiny forever.◘
◘ A ringing phone has to be answered .~ It's one of those scenario's anyone could have found ourselves in, walking past a phone box, and the phone is ringing. The need to answer any ringing phone is very immediate, the ring has an urgency about it, and our curiosity needs to be satisfied, and that's just what happened to Stu Shepard ( Colin Farrell) when his curiosity got the better of him. The film starts at a hurried pace with phones ringing all over the City, and a narrator talking us through how many phone calls are made every
single day, and the significance of communication. The hustle bustle of people hurrying to work and noise of phones with their various rings is suddenly brought to an abrupt halt - as the film begins.~
◘ I liked the change of pace from hectic noise, to Stu taking over with the rushing, noisy, arrogance of his character. Fast talking, and planning his many deals with his Young male PA in tow, he issues orders to him on what he wants done, and what he expects from him. Ducking and diving his way through his day, leaving time free for his Love interest, in the form of Pamela McFadden (Katie Holmes) who he always calls every day after work from the same public Phone Booth!~
◘ I was gripped from the very beginning of this film. The fast pace caught my attention immediately, there was no time to think, you just sit there taking the information in. Colin Farrell is brilliant in the role of the publicist, while Katie Holmes I found light, as an actress, and pretty bland. However there is an excellent performance by Forest Whitaker as Captain Ed Ramey. I sympathised with the character, when he was forcibly cornered by Farrell, on the subject of the Captains supposed impotence. Keifer Sutherland was convincing as 'The caller' with just the right amount of menace and dry humour. He played with his victim like a cat with a mouse, controlling, and toying with him throughout with verbal communication only~
◘ Quite honestly I loved the Film, but found most of the lesser supporting cast pretty mediocre and felt that they were incidental to the plot, and only seemed to be there to pad out the storyline, which I felt stood well on it's own, and I would liked to have seen less of them. To be honest I found the non phone booth scenes to be the weakest links in the film. The extras were static. At one point they came to a total halt, they didn't move at all, and appeared to be waiting for a cue. I was surprised this wasn't picked up on. Look out for this. It's when Stu turns the corner to approach the phone booth. I found it quite amusing ~
◘ The Film works on a psychological level. It plays on the senses. The fear and tension is in the unknown factor, the unseen enemy, and the fact that the Film is set almost entirely in one location, the Phone Booth, gives us a sense of entrapment, claustrophobia, enclosed in the phone Booth there is a feeling of imprisonment and no escape. How easy it would be to walk away,or to stay, the 'flight or fight ' theory that is within us all. But it isn't as straight forward as that, and it is how Stu reacts to the situation that keeps us gripped to the edge of our seats. We are with him every step of the way, as this film is set in real time, we are living every second with him, with hardly any light relief. It does come briefly in the form of a couple of Hookers and their pimp, but even this has an edginess about the situation, as you feel anything could happen at any second, and happen it does.~
◘ It is interesting the watch the deterioration of Stu's character, when stripped away of his built up facade. Little by little with devious mind games as his ally , the caller chips away, till Stu is left with very little in the way of dignity. He is like a Badger caught in a trap, and the caller is manipulatiing his every move. Stu's mind becomes irrational and confused, and he is in a very fragile state. His every decision is like walking on a minefield. Will he be able to focus enough to make the right decisions? ~
◘ The film is slick, and well directed by Joel Schumacher, who directed 8MM. He keeps the tension building, like a slow boiling kettle, throughout the Film, and lets the Actors tell the story. The fast pace of the camera work, adds fury to the split second decisions that Stu has to make. The cinematographer Matthew Libatique uses several different cameras, and split screen teqniques to capture the confusion of this desperate situation. The frantic movements of the camera throughout add imputus to the tension and panic in this film ~ The original idea for Phone Booth came in the 1960's, when the writer Larry Cohen approached Alfred Hitchcock with the idea, but neither seemed to be able to come up with a plot reason at that time. It wasn't till the 1990's that Cohen finalised the storyline.~ The Dialoque is more or less continuous, and most of it taking place during the phone call. The photography for Phone Booth was completed in ten days and it took another two days for re-shoots and establishing shots.~
◘ I would recommend this film to anyone who likes a good suspense film, a thriller. It's very gripping and tense, has an excellent storyline, and is well acted out by Colin Farrell as the Publicist, and by Keifer Sutherland as 'The caller'. The film was originally due to be released in the fall of 2002, but was delayed until April 4, 2003 due to the Beltway sniper attacks. Running time is 81 minutes. The BBFC rating is 15. There is some violence and strong use of swear words.~
CAST:
Colin Farrell ... Stu Shepard Kiefer Sutherland ... The Caller Forest Whitaker ... Captain Ed Ramey Radha Mitchell ... Kelly Shepard Katie Holmes ... Pamela McFadden Paula Jai Parker ... Felicia Arian Waring Ash ... Corky (as Arian Ash) Tia Texada ... Asia John Enos III ... Leon Richard T. Jones ... Sergeant Cole Keith Nobbs ... Adam Dell Yount ... Pizza Guy James MacDonald ... Negotiator Yorgo Constantine ... ESU Commander
Directed by Joel Schumacher.
You can purchase Phone Booth DVD from Play.com for £4.99 http://www.play.com
Thank you for reading. Electra 2007.
Pictures of Phone Booth (DVD)
Phone Booth.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Thriller - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Timothy West, Neil Morrissey, Tara Fitzgerald, Annette Crosbie, Pauline Quirke, Rob Brydon, Denise Van Outen, John Thomson, Kevin Whately, David Suchet
Production Year: 2002 - Thriller - Director: K.C. Bascombe - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Jesse James, Rachel Skarsten, Charles Powell, Linda Purl, Kevin Zegars
Production Year: 2002 - Thriller - Director: Bharat Nalluri, Rob Bailey, Andy Wilson - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Matthew MacFadyen, Keeley Hawes, David Oyelowo, Peter Firth, Jenny Agutter, Lisa Faulkner
There you, go, have managed to give you the E now! =] Lauren x
lozzy_lou178 31.12.2007 18:12
Great review, I will re-rate as exceptional when I have gained some more tomorrow. I loved this film and was amazed i could be so gripped by a film that was set in one location! Lauren x
manimal 04.12.2007 18:48
Farell was excellent in phone booth. One of my favourite actors. Forest Whitaker was excellent as well. A really good review.
exceptional by (23%):
very helpful by (75%):
helpful by (2%):
