Cinema review Phone Booth (From Penarth Times)

Cinema review Phone Booth

STU SHEPPARD (Colin Farrell) is a fast-talking New York publicist, who spends most of his working life lying, cheating, and generally manipulating his clients.

But this slick operator is also trying to cheat on his wife. He phones potential girlfriend, Pamela (Katie Holmes) from the same phone at 53rd and 8th, at the same time every day. But he is about to come unstuck.

When he hangs up the pay phone, it begins to ring, and as most of us would do, he picks up the phone.

The voice on the other end of the line tells him if he hangs up he will be shot.

The little red light on is chest from the laser sight is all the proof Stu needs to stay glued to the receiver.

The voice on the other end of the phone is a moralist.

He knows a lot about Stu, and believes that he should confess all his sins and if he doesn't, he should be killed.

The police soon arrive, as the sniper signals his intentions to Stu by killing a local pimp who is standing near the phone booth. As the situation escalates, TV cameras turn up.

This only makes Stu's situation worse as he has to apologise on national television for all the things he's done wrong.

Absolution is not the only thing that the man on the phone wants from Stu; he also wants him to understand that the life he is living is so full of lies that he lost any sense of honesty.

So Stu has to do what he does best, and that is to talk his way out of a death sentence.

Colin Farrell gives a great performance and even though he and the sniper are main players, Katie Holmes (the girlfriend) and Radha Mitchel (his wife) also give outstanding performances, even if they were both under-used.