For his part, Sutherland (The Lost Boys, TV's 24) is terrific. This is the genius of this film, and why it's easy to overlook its flaws. Instead of the action-oriented drama created by such mindless "thrillers" as The Fast and the Furious and XXX, this film's refreshing hook is its use of words and genuine emotion to propel its story with as little gunplay and actual physical violence as is possible. And while the film does possess a poorly hidden "trick" ending that doesn't wash down easily, when it's all over, the whole overcomes the lesser sum of its parts. For all that this film doesn't do in terms of movement, it more than compensates with a thick, verbal tension that rises and falls with moments of sheer terror and of much needed comedic relief.
#Phonebox hangup hook movie#
What follows is a surprisingly gripping, entertaining hour and a half of movie packed with more than enough twists, turns and verbal pyrotechnics to make this thin premise work. Before his afternoon is over, Stu Shepard will be made to confess his two-faced, conniving ways to his wife, his would-be mistress, and to the world, at the hands of an unseen killer. Soon the police have gathered in force, led by Forrest Whitaker, believing that Stu was the one who shot the club owner, trying to diffuse what they think is a man gone berserk on a city street. To prove his point, Sutherland first shoots a toy robot at a nearby vendor stand, and follows with the execution of a strip club owner who has been harassing Stu to get out of the booth.
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When Stu answers the phone, he is told by the caller (the disembodied voice of Kiefer Sutherland) that if he tries to leave the booth or hang up, he will be shot with a high powered rifle. It's just an ordinary day of misleading and little white lies for Stu, until the payphone rings. To call on his cell phone, understand, would tip his hand to his wife (Radha Mitchell), whom Pamela knows nothing about. He's a small time guy pitching small time names, based on the principle that "Getting mentioned is the first step to getting noticed." On this particular morning, Stu is, like every morning, on his way to a phone booth in the middle of Manhattan to call Pamela (Katie Holmes), a cute young actress whose name he's been dropping, and whom he calls every day from this very same phone booth.
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![phonebox hangup hook phonebox hangup hook](https://www.hqtelecom.com/image/cache/data/assessories/auto-hangup-phone-box2-1000x1000.jpg)
man Stu Shepard (Colin Farrell) who's got a quick wit and a knack for double-talk. Joel Schumacher's Phone Booth starts off following a day in the life of sleazy New York P.R.