*** Official "PHONE BOOTH" Discussion Thread (1 Viewer)

[Hunter P]

Late to the party but I just saw this movie. It was an OK movie overall. Nice and short (80 min) which was refreshing with all the three hour movies that came out in the last few years.

Of course with a far-fetched premise there are going to be a lot of plot holes. You could tell that the movie tried to address the obvious ones but there are just too many. The movie is enjoyable if you view it as empty entertainment. Don't try to view it as realistic or it will ruin it for you.

The movie Liberty Stands Still was practically the same movie. LSS was the fuller movie and the character motivations were more believable. How Stu compares to the child pornographer and the inside trader I'll never know. Being a chronic liar didn't sell it for me.

Among the other absurd plot twists (spoilers ahead):
***One of my pet-peeve movie cliches is when the police or other authority figures completely ignore infomation given to them. This happens yet again when the WIFE of the alleged shooter tries to tell the cops what happened earlier that day.

[police thought process]"Let's not listen to what she has to say, let's just try to convince her how they know him better than she does."[/police thought process]

Of course, later in the movie they finally ask her to finish her story and that proves to be the turning point in locating the sniper. What a suprise.

***After the police captain (Forrest) realizes there is a sniper aiming for Stu's wife he tells her to get inside a cop car. How about getting her completely out of the line of fire? Get her inside one of the nearby buildings.

Plus why the hell does she keep getting out of that damn car? Are they all that stupid? Even after it is evident to everyone what is going on they still didn't get her out of there. Why are movie cops so stupid?

***How long does it take to search the windows? The police already knew the approximate angle of the shooter, so just have one of the SWAT guys on the roof look at every window. It should take ten minutes at the most to find the one with the gun in it.

***Stu is yelling into the phone as he talks to the sniper and yells at practically the same volume when talking to the police. So why can't the cops hear what he is saying to the sniper? I would understand if he talked in a normal volume on the phone but he often doesn't. Some of his talks with the police weren't yelling back and forth. Often it seemed like they were conversing with their voices only slightly raised.

This reminds me of another other movie cliche: talking in a night club. Ever notice that characters in a night club can speak normally and be perfectly heard by others? When's the last time you have been to a nightclub and didn't have to yell two inches from your friend's ear for them to hear you?

***And finally, as mentioned before by previous posts, I never knew it was that easy to walk around a crime scene in a trenchcoat while holding a rifle case.

 

[Damin J Toell]

***How long does it take to search the windows? The police already knew the approximate angle of the shooter, so just have one of the SWAT guys on the roof look at every window.

The police did not know the approximate angle of the shooter. They had no idea what the exact position the guy's body was in when he got shot, so it would impossible to know the angle of the shooter. Otherwise, they never would have suspected that Stu could've been responsible for the shooting.

DJ

 

[Hunter P]

Capt. Ramey saw the laser dot on Stu's wife. Based on that he immediately told one of his officers to have his men search the windows for the sniper. That was already established. I am griping that it shouldn't have taken so long.

 

[Angel Pagan]

Just saw this on DVD and totally loved it. I'll agree with everyone's complaints regarding the holes but the movie had me hooked. I only wished I hadn't seen the pizza guys jeans when he was lying face down. I knew then that the sniper was still alive.

 

[Cagri]

It was a good film. One thing I think doesn't fit is; Sutherland killing the pizza guy. He was critisizing and blaming Farrell wwith some deep sensitivity against his attitude to other people and acting as God he was trying to make him find the right way or he would penalize him. And he had some solid pattern of thinking, he wasn't acting like an aimless psycho. OTOH, maybe not strongly enough, but I felt that Sutherland was presented like an "Electric Eye", in a way that makes you feel that the director wants you to think positively for him. He at least didn't want the audience to feel that he was a piece of $hite and him killing the pizza guy doesn't fit the character he had built.

 

[Holadem]

I see what you're saying but I disagree. He did kill a perfectly innocent man earlier just to make a point.

--
Holadem

 

[dave_brogli]

The movie left it open at the end for a chance at a sequel. I listened to that last "answerer's" voice at the very end and came to the conclusion it has to be.............
Steve Buscemi

Listen to it...... he's not credited or anything in the movie but it sounds to distinct like him.

Anyone think Im on the right track??

I know Im right!! (am I)

 

[Angel Pagan]

I'd have to think that if Sutherland's character was as smart as was made to be and had already thought ahead to plant the gun and prevent his phone from being tapped, maybe he already had info on the pizza guy and Leon. Maybe they weren't as innocent as you'd think. Especially Leon, with his "escort" business.

the sniper's placement seems to be, erm, varied. He manages to put the dot on both the front of Stu's chest while he's looking from the phonebooth to the street, and also on the pimp's chest while he looks from the street to the phonebooth?

I played this scene again after reading this thread and although there are many inconsistencies in the movie, I don't feel this is one of them. During that scene, Leon was standing at an angle when the sniper put the laser on him. After Stu saw the laser, Leon then went back for the bat and had his back towards the sniper before he got shot. So my point being that the laser was only on him when Leon was at an angle so Stu could see it.

 

[WadeB]

Angel,

Are you sure you had your audio set up correctly. I watched this on Tuesday in DD 5.1, and when Kelly and Pam were in the PIP type screen, their dialogue was coming from either the left or right front speakers depending on which side of the screen the box was on. I could hear everything they said.

 

[Cagri]

Maybe they weren't as innocent as you'd think. Especially Leon, with his "escort" business

That's one possibility of course but I would like to see that instead of assuming it.

 

[Angel Pagan]

Wade, you're right. I think there was something I didn't do when setting up the movie last night. After going back to it this morning, I heard the dialogue on the other end. D'oh. Saw the whole movie like that. Thought it was supposed to be that way. :b

Original post has been edited.

Dave, it does sound like Steve Buscemi.

 

[dave_brogli]

Can someone find out who this voice really is??
That would be very cool.....

 

[Ricardo C]

It was a good film. One thing I think doesn't fit is; Sutherland killing the pizza guy. He was critisizing and blaming Farrell wwith some deep sensitivity against his attitude to other people and acting as God he was trying to make him find the right way or he would penalize him. And he had some solid pattern of thinking, he wasn't acting like an aimless psycho.

He had decided to execute a man because he was a liar. And along the way, he threatened to kill three innocent people (Kelly, Pam, and Cap. Ramey). Doesn't sound very sane to me.

One could argue that the pimp, the stock broker, and the pedophile had it coming, but the situations could have been handled without resorting to murder. And btw: If the shooter knew about his previous victims' crimes, then he must have witnessed their crimes. And didn't turn them in. Which makes him an accomplice. Which makes him a big fat hypocrite. Stu should have tried telling him that, maybe he would have snapped and killed himself.

 

[Cagri]

One could argue that the pimp, the stock broker, and the pedophile had it coming, but the situations could have been handled without resorting to murder.

Of course it could, but my point is; Sutherland was portrayed as a killer with some sort of " holy " purpose, who had a "point". And killing the pizza guy wasn't something I would expect from that character as that killing did not serve his purpose. You could argue it did, by helping him get away from the scene and he can keep watching and penalizing people, but still ... As I mentioned before, I do not think it's a major thing, it just doen't fit to the killer character I had built in my mind throughout the movie.

 

[Alex Spindler]

It's no different than Seven, which this movie follows very closely for motivation. In both cases, the killer would kill people even outside their own definition of deserving to get their goal accomplished. In Seven that was Mill's wife.

 

[Ricardo C]

Of course it could, but my point is; Sutherland was portrayed as a killer with some sort of " holy " purpose, who had a "point". And killing the pizza guy wasn't something I would expect from that character as that killing did not serve his purpose. You could argue it did, by helping him get away from the scene and he can keep watching and penalizing people, but still ... As I mentioned before, I do not think it's a major thing, it just doen't fit to the killer character I had built in my mind throughout the movie.

I see where you're coming from. I guess the killing of the pizaa guy doesn't seem out of place to me because I started considering the killer a psycho from the beginning.

 

[Tim Glover]

Well I wanted to see a movie late on Monday night and chose Phone Booth. For one, it had been awhile since I last saw this and I knew it was fairly short.

This was released back in April 2003 and I am on record for saying it was the best film I had seen that year up to that time.

...Well, there were some other really good films that came later that year like (Return of the King, Master & Commander, The Last Samurai, Pirates of the Caribbean, School of Rock, Bruce Almighty, Seabiscuit, Shattered Glass etc...) but Phone Booth remains one of 2003's best. Not the best for sure, but a very effective thriller.

The editing is crisp and it just works. Nearly 4 years later, I still think it's Colin Ferrell's best performance yet. He's pretty dang good in Tigerland too.

The 5.1 audio mix on the dvd is rather atmospheric and really adds to the intensity and the you are there element. Yeah, there a few little holes here and there but minor to me.

It's a very good film that still works today.