Phone Booth

I saw this film at a second-run theater because I didn't think it would be good enough for me to plunk down $8 to see. I guess I should have known better, based on the combination of Joel Schumacher and Colin Farrell. (Then again, I thought the combination of Jodie Foster and David Fincher would prove that Panic Room would be excellent, and I was unfortunately quite wrong.) Farrell proves he is an excellent actor, as well as a bonafide movie star since he can carry a film without any problem. You'd never know he's Irish (his character is from the Bronx), and you'd never know he'd done some iffy acting recently. This is a command performance. (Doesn't hurt at all that he's extremely easy on the eyes.) Schumacher creates an environment in which we forget that we are watching a guy in a phone booth for an hour and a half. The impact of the film is somewhat complex, which is probably why I like it so much. Who do we empathize with? The sniper who has Farrell's character in his sights? Farrell's character himself? Poor, downtrodden, pre-Giuliani NYC? And which of these is actually evil? Schumacher deliberately shows all sides, so that we leave the theater with conflicting emotions about the situation we've witnessed.

year: 2003
length: 81 min.
rating: 3.5
IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0183649/combined