Wednesday, April 9, 2003

Phone Booth

In a Nutshell: An interesting movie, to be sure. Good, I suppose, but not overwhelmingly so.

Quick Plot: When Stu picks up a ringing pay phone, he has no idea that it will change his life. On the other end of the line is a sniper who has his sites on Stu, and who seems to know an awful lot about Stu's life. When the sniper shoots someone on the street, witnesses assume it was Stu. Now the police and the media are involved in the frenzy, but Stu will be shot if he hangs up or if he tells them what is going on. Will Stu get out alive?

In Detail: A very interesting movie. I had mistakenly ID'd the voice from the previews, but I got it right off after just a few lines of dialog at the theater. First off, the style is very interesting. It utilized "picture in picture" and split screen (4 quadrants) throughout much of the film. I liked this aspect, DH didn't. As far as the story, it takes longer than I think it should for him to get to the phone booth, and the whole thing with the hookers drags on much longer than it should without advancing the plot. It's much better once the police and the media arrive. It was also *much* funnier than I thought it would be, and not quite as intense (though that may have had something to do with the rest of our particular audience). I do think the film is hampered somewhat by the fact that you don't much care about Stu; he's a real jerk! And the ending was a little lame; even Stu should have known better. Overall an okay to good movie. I'm glad I saw it. Not sure if it needs the big screen or not. DH thinks that seeing the phone booth on that huge scale manages to actually reinforce how small it is. In a room full of people, it may have more tension. The picture in picture or split screen will not be nearly as effective if you have a small television, but it doesn't have sweeping vistas or awesome special effects that would be lost either.

Will I Buy It? No. I'm glad I saw it, but I wouldn't watch it over and over.

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