An interesting urban thriller thanks to Larry Cohen's playful talent, a creative filmmaker who doesn't take himself too seriously. Phone Booth delivers a few good B-Movie sequences that warrant its belated appearance in theaters (Cohen played with the idea of this particular script about thirty-years ago).
However, this thriller requires a bit more suspension of audience disbelief : nobody with half a brain would even bother answering a public telephone! It's just too risky nowadays (at least in the movies) to answer any anonymous callers. Rule of Thumb: Let your machine take a message, or just walk away from the ringing.
Actor Whitaker is truly a man of many talents as well but, frankly, he should stick to directing. Yet here he manages to come across as just another actor who agreed to play a formula "Columbo" (that thing he 'does' with his eye) without the forced naivete, or the characteristic patience required to endear the audience to his character. It would have been far more interesting to see him play the man trapped in the booth, and have Scottish actor Farrell play a gung-ho officer.
Note to future directors/screenwriters: Phone Thrillers are definitely a thing of the past. Neve Campbell (Scream) and Colin Farrell are the only ones doing this particular type of thriller lately. And Cohen, let's bring back your "It's Alive!" babies with plenty of digital-effects so that we don't have to worry about whether we should be picking up an anonymous phone call (who even cares, really!)
Lastly, how can you feel sorry for the main character? He's a pathological liar and a weasel, among other things, so one can't help but feel he had all of this coming to him. Stu, you got a cellular phone, for cornsake!
However, this thriller requires a bit more suspension of audience disbelief : nobody with half a brain would even bother answering a public telephone! It's just too risky nowadays (at least in the movies) to answer any anonymous callers. Rule of Thumb: Let your machine take a message, or just walk away from the ringing.
Actor Whitaker is truly a man of many talents as well but, frankly, he should stick to directing. Yet here he manages to come across as just another actor who agreed to play a formula "Columbo" (that thing he 'does' with his eye) without the forced naivete, or the characteristic patience required to endear the audience to his character. It would have been far more interesting to see him play the man trapped in the booth, and have Scottish actor Farrell play a gung-ho officer.
Note to future directors/screenwriters: Phone Thrillers are definitely a thing of the past. Neve Campbell (Scream) and Colin Farrell are the only ones doing this particular type of thriller lately. And Cohen, let's bring back your "It's Alive!" babies with plenty of digital-effects so that we don't have to worry about whether we should be picking up an anonymous phone call (who even cares, really!)
Lastly, how can you feel sorry for the main character? He's a pathological liar and a weasel, among other things, so one can't help but feel he had all of this coming to him. Stu, you got a cellular phone, for cornsake!