MovieFreak.com - Phone Booth DVD Review

Colin Farrell delivers a captivating, off-the-hook performance as Stu Shepard, a self-centered New York City publicist who suddenly finds himself on the deadly end of a high-powered rifle scope. Now it's a real-time race against the clock as Stu must outwit a psychotic sniper in a frantic scramble from phone booth to freedom.

Phone Booth is daring, exciting, and fast-paced. Give it to Larry Cohen and filmmaker Joel Schumacher for they have created a pretty cool little film. Schumacher is known as a notorious kind of guy when it comes to making films, although that does not mean he is not nice in person. I promised myself not to mention the Batman franchise here, so I will not. It’s in the toilet; flushed. Okay, back to Phone Booth now.

Starring the hot-as-wheels Colin Farrell (The Recruit), Forest Whitaker (Panic Room) and Kiefer Sutherland (24), Phone Booth is as every bit engaging as it is original. While the film is certainly limited in space and scope, Cohen’s script includes a variety of goods to keep the viewer interested. First, the character of Stu Shepard is nicely set up of the life lesson he is about to get—in the most stressful and dangerous manner. Farrell offers a wide range of emotions as his life is on the line, literally. He certainly gives a commanding performance and works very well with the material he is presented. At the other end of the call sits a sniper, voiced with great intensity and energy by Mr. Sutherland. His voice is so deep and scary, although a few times it appears a little over the top.

In addition, Forest Whitaker plays his role well. He is the leading police offer on the scene and there is some general, good chemistry between him and Farrell. Also, providing the film with additional talent are actresses Katie Holmes, playing Stu’s mistress, of sorts, and Rhada Mitchell, playing Stu’s wife. Both characters are essential to the story and both Holmes and Mitchell make the film much more fun to watch. Aside from a pretty good cast, the crew is pretty good, too.

That is, Matthew Libatique (Requiem for a Dream), the director of photography, makes great use of the limited space inside and outside of the phone booth. Schumacher makes sure the tension and focus is right on the line (no pun intended). To clarify, he impresses. Cohen’s script is tight and focused, offering a variety of little twists and turns as the story progresses. Some of the dialogue is too generic, but there are lines evoking real emotion and important messages. The moral of Phone Booth is certainly clear, "treat people the way you want to be treated," but it depends on the individual to interpret it one way or another. Some viewers might find this message obvious or pretentious in some way, but that should not affect the way Phone Booth is daring, exciting, and fast-paced.

20th Century Fox presents Phone Booth in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen. As a reference, side A includes the fullscreen version, but considering Schumacher and DOP Matthew Libatique’s assortment of visual tricks, your best bet is the cool widescreen version. The color palette is mostly subdued; a lot of blue, and therefore color detail is not too exceptional, but still very good. There’s a little grain present, but it’s not a concern, and some compression artifacts occur. Despite two minor problems, Phone Booth looks very good overall.

20th Century Fox presents Phone Booth in English 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound. Dialog scenes are clear and easy to understand. For example, some scenes include two speakers. Colin Farrell talks to the caller, but also to Katie Holmes (her scene is integrated in the right-hand corner of the screen). The sound design and mixing of various dialog works very well as each channel emits some form of sound that directly relates to what is on screen. You’ll see what I’m talking about when you get to those scenes. Additionally, there is some cool ambience sound present. Sound effects are also clear, especially the cocking sound of the caller’s rifle. Harry Gregson-Williams’ score is nicely mixed into the soundtrack, but it’s not accentuated enough. Overall, this audio presentation is very good and works great.

Phone Booth is also available in French 5.1 Dolby Surround and Spanish Dolby Surround.

Commentary by Joel Schumacher – On a grand scale, this track is not very engaging as Schumacher is just not that interesting. On more subtle level, however, Schumacher provides enough good information about Phone Booth. He talks about Colin Farrell, recounts the rapid pace of the production, reflects on the controversy that surrounded the film’s original November release date (it was ultimately postponed), and mentions other things about the film. This is a decent track, but nothing too exciting.

The only other feature is the film’s Theatrical Trailer, plus a peek at Garage Days. That’s about all that is included on this DVD release. Where’s the meat? Perhaps a behind-the-scenes featurette would have been great, or an interview-driven featurette; anything besides listening to Schumacher. However, considering Schumacher’s guerilla-style filmmaking for this picture, I can understand if nobody recorded behind-the-scenes footage or interviews. On the other hand, Phone Booth was released on April 4 and the DVD release is definitely rushed – only 3 months – so there was probably no time to produce the extras! That’s really too bad.

You can select to view the film with optional English and Spanish subtitles. The DVD’s menus are not animated. The 81-minute feature is organized into twenty-eight chapters.

Phone Booth is daring, exciting, and fast-paced, while Colin Farrell turns in a commanding performance. Fox gives the DVD very nice video and audio presentations, although the special features are really lacking, despite a decent commentary track. This DVD release of Phone Booth could have been better, but even so, it is a recommended rental.

THE MOVIE	8
THE VIDEO	8
THE AUDIO	9
THE EXTRAS	3
OVERALL (not an average)	7