Taglines: Your life is on the line.
Phone Booth is an American psychological thriller film about a man who is held hostage in a telephone booth by a sniper. It stars Colin Farrell, Forest Whitaker, Katie Holmes, Radha Mitchell and Kiefer Sutherland. The film was directed by Joel Schumacher, with music composed by Harry Gregson-Williams.
The film was originally due to be released on November 15, 2002. However, in October, 2002, the Beltway sniper attacks occurred in the Washington, DC area, prompting the studio, 20th Century Fox, to delay the release of the movie. The film was finally released in theaters on April 2, 2003.
About the Story
Stu Shepard (Colin Farrell) is an arrogant New York City publicist who has been courting a woman named Pam (Katie Holmes) behind his wife Kelly (Radha Mitchell). He uses the last remaining public phone booth in the city to contact Pam. During the call, he is interrupted by a pizza delivery man, who attempts to deliver a free pizza to him, but Stu rudely turns him away by insulting his weight. As soon as Stu completes his call to Pam, the phone rings. Stu answers, to find that the caller (Kiefer Sutherland), who knows his name, warns him not to leave the booth, and says he will say hello to Pam for him. He also says he will call Kelly, leaving Stu panicked.
The caller tells Stu that he has tested two previous individuals who have done wrong deeds in a similar manner (one was a pedophile, the other was a company insider who cashed out his stock options before the share price collapsed), giving each a chance to reveal the truth to those they wronged, but in both cases, neither agreed and were killed.
To demonstrate the threat, the caller fires a suppressed sniper rifle at a toy robot sold by a nearby vendor; the damage is unseen by anyone but Stu, the caller, and the vendor. The caller demands that Stu confess his feelings for Pam to both Kelly and Pam to avoid being killed. The caller contacts Pam, and puts her on line with Stu, who reveals that he is married. The caller then hangs up, telling Stu to call Kelly himself.
As Stu hesitates, the booth is approached by three prostitutes demanding to use the phone. Stu refuses to leave, having been warned by the caller to stay in the booth and not reveal the situation. Leon (John Enos III), the prostitutes’ pimp, joins his charges, smashes the side of the booth, grabs at Stu in a headlock and starts punching him.
The caller offers to “make him stop” and asks if Stu can hear him, which Stu just answers positively, causing the caller to misunderstand Stu and shoot Leon. Leon staggers away before collapsing dead in the street. The prostitutes immediately blame Stu, making a scene over Leon’s body, accusing him of having a gun as the police and news crews converge on the location.
Phone Booth
Directed by: Joel Schumacher
Starring: Colin Farrell, Kiefer Sutherland, Forest Whitaker, Radha Mitchell, Katie Holmes, Paula Jai Parker, Arian Ash, Tia Texada
Screenplay by: Larry Cohen
Production Design by: Andrew Laws
Cinematography by: Matthew Libatique
Film Editing by: Mark Stevens
Costume Design by: Daniel Orlandi
Set Decoration by: Don Diers, Al Durcan
Music by: Harry Gregson-Williams
MPAA Rating: R for pervasive language and some violence.
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Release Date: April 4, 2003