Pick that phone up

Phone Booth

Starring Colin Farrell, Kiefer Sutherland and Forest Whitaker…

Phone Booth

Starring Colin Farrell, Kiefer Sutherland and Forest Whitaker

Directed by Joel Schumacher

Don’t disregard “Phone Booth,” as easy as it might be. After all, the film’s been delayed more times than J.Lo’s been married, many actors – from Jim Carrey to Will Smith – have at one time been rumored to star in it and, maybe worst of all, the director is Joel Schumacher. The film seems doomed.

Against all odds, “Phone Booth” never falters or slides into laughable nonsense like so many other Schumacher films (see: “Batman and Robin”). Instead, it’s a taut, thrilling film that succeeds on nearly every level and doesn’t overstay its welcome.

It’s a daring film in its approach. In this age of big, loud, globetrotting thrillers, “Phone Booth” stands apart. It’s centered on one location and, essentially, one person and was shot in 12 days on a minimal budget.

The location here is the last freestanding phone booth in New York City, soon to be torn down by Verizon. “The last occupant” of the booth is Stu Shepard (Colin Farrell), a fast-talking, showy publicist with no moral scruples or hang-ups; a Sidney Falco for the 21st Century.

Between Stu’s wheeling, dealing and lying, he utilizes the phone booth to call client and potential lover Pam (Katie Holmes) – he doesn’t want his wife Kelly (Radha Mitchell) to find out he’s courting another woman from his cell phone bill.

During one of these phone booth stopovers, Pam rebuffs Stu’s offer to meet at a hotel, ending their conversation. Soon after hanging up, the phone rings. Stu, thinking it’s Pam star-69-ing him, picks up the phone. On the other end isn’t Pam, however; it’s a mystery caller who seems to know all about Stu and his life. If that weren’t creepy enough, the caller (Kiefer Sutherland) says he has a rifle pointed at Stu and will shoot him if Stu hangs up the phone.

What follows is a cat and mouse game where Cat (the caller) has already caught Mouse (Stu) and revels in toying with and making the mouse squirm. This sets up the tension and exhilaration of the film and to reveal any more plot would be to spoil the surprises.

“Phone Booth” is a wonderfully acted film, from Sutherland’s menacing voice performance to Forest Whitaker’s surprisingly effective work as a police captain. The film wouldn’t work if the acting weren’t top notch. But ultimately this is Farrell’s show.

One of today’s most prolific actors, Farrell shows in this film just how talented he is. Stu is a character that runs the gamut of emotion, from egomaniacal sleazeball jerk to remorseful human and everywhere between. Farrell handles this task brilliantly and undeniably makes the role his own. If he hadn’t had one already, this is Farrell’s coming out party.

Surprisingly, Schumacher’s direction is as good as the acting. He uses differing film stocks and aspect ratios in a multiple split screen approach to telling the story. This keeps the audience always with Stu in the booth while also taking us outside, onto the streets, with onlookers and the police. This gets the optimum use out of the film’s 80-minute running time while heightening our tension as well as the characters’ onscreen.

“Phone Booth” finally brings to the multiplex a film worth admission. It’s a tense and gripping thriller that Hitchcock could easily have made if he was alive and working today.