Sunday 12 February 2017

Review: Phone Booth

So last week not alot happened as there was no Wednesday post, but it was all about women who were either tortured or sociopathic women, and interestingly they were both by Stephen King. This week we're gonna try to do films that show a character in isolation like this film and disaster films aswell, which funnily enough was the first film that I watched that had violence and swearing, like they were using words I never even heard my mum and dad say. 
The film stars Colin Farrell as the main character Stu, he is a publicist who has been cheating on his wife Kelly who is played by Radha Mitchell, he makes promises he can't always keep to his clients and those in his personal life. He then uses the phonebooth to call his bit on the side Pam who is played by Katie Holmes, when he tries to call her it isn't her, its instead this stranger on the other end. Who knows everything about Stu, and every wrong thing he ever did in his life. 
As the plot thickens, and escalates it then turns into this police stand off, and its to the point where Stu's entire life is at risk, and he has to do everything the caller tells him to do, because he's so scared, he's forced into telling the truth and being honest. I love Colin Farrell anyway, I think he's a fantastically versatile actor who can do nearly anything. His character in this film was extremely unlikeable which you need as he was a horrible person, you needed a character with a abit of depth in order for them to change in a way. 
But even so in the end you assume his character changes, and you're on the edge as you're thinking does he? I personally don't think he did, I mean he's a good guy underneath and he's been through such an ordeal but you get the feeling no he won't change although that might be just me. The caller is never revealed in the film, its anonymous trait to this film which is great as it makes it more mysterious, as Stu must have had alot of enemies. Although it might be the pizza delivery guy, as he is the least likely you'd think would pull something like that.
Despite the lack of on screen presence both Katie Holmes, and Radha Mitchell had they were both very good, and I would've like to have seen a little more character development into both of them. But I understand that it would have taken away from the spotlight on Stu. Kiefer Sutherland plays the caller which is possibly the best performance of the film, not to say Colin Farrell wasn't good as he was, but Kiefer was so terrifying and you never got to even see him, just hear his voice. It was incredibly mesmerising and unforgettable to watch.
                                                                
This film is very good, and delivers its brief of being a psychological thriller, but however I personally feel there are better psychological thrillers out there. The reason I did this as a review was 1. It feels strangely nostalgic to me, as it was the first film I watched that had swearing, and violence in and that's always memorable to any film fan. 2. I wanted to write a review that wasn't 100% positive, and I like watching films and reviewing films I like, but its also nice to write abit of criticism aswell.

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Maira Gall