Phone Booth

"No options. No lies. No fear. No deals. Just keep talking."

2003 1h 21m EN

👍

6.9

SOLID

🍅

72%

FRESH

😬

METACRITIC

⭐

7.1

IMDB

★6.9TMDB · 4,363🍅72%Rotten Tomatoes●56Metacritic★7.1IMDB · 300,750

ThrillerCrime

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A slick New York publicist who picks up a ringing receiver in a phone booth is told that if he hangs up, he'll be killed... and the little red light from a laser rifle sight is proof that the caller isn't kidding.

“No options. No lies. No fear. No deals. Just keep talking.”

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Cast

Colin Farrell
Stu Shepard
Kiefer Sutherland
The Caller
Forest Whitaker
Captain Ramey
Radha Mitchell
Kelly Shepard
Katie Holmes
Pamela McFadden
Paula Jai Parker
Felicia
Arian Ash
Corky
Tia Texada
Asia

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Joel Schumacher
Writers: Larry Cohen
Languages: English, Swahili
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

81 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 7.5× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 23 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Swahili.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CAST

Did you know

368+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Joel Schumacher, shot by Matthew Libatique. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Harry Gregson-Williams. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Mark Stevens shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Joel Schumacher directs. Matthew Libatique behind the camera. Harry Gregson-Williams scores. Mark Stevens cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English, Swahili.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

181 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
2Made its money back 7.5× over at the box office.
3Released 23 years ago.
4Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Swahili.
5368+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
6Directed by Joel Schumacher, shot by Matthew Libatique. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
7Original score by Harry Gregson-Williams. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
8Editor Mark Stevens shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
9Colin Farrell and Kiefer Sutherland and Forest Whitaker carry the top of the cast.
10Marketing tagline: "No options. No lies. No fear. No deals. Just keep talking.".
11IMDB entry: tt0183649 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
12Classified under 8 themes, including "sniper", "new york city", "psychopath", "terrorism".
13Released under 15 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Matthew Libatique
Original score: Harry Gregson-Williams
Editing: Mark Stevens
Production design: Andrew Laws
Costume design: Daniel Orlandi
Makeup / hair: Greg Nelson
VFX supervisor: Nathan McGuinness
Sound: Brian Emrich
Stunt coordinator: Troy Gilbert
Runtime: 81 min · 1h 21m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $13,000,000
Box office: $97,837,138
Return: 753% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Phone Booth (2003)
Rotten Tomatoes: 72% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 56/100
IMDB rating: 7.1/10 · 300,750 votes
MPAA: R

Awards

1 win & 8 nominations total

Also by

Joel Schumacher

Stills · wallpapers

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Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

The Movie Diorama2020-01-16
★ 6/10
Phone Booth dials up its millennial tension through suspenseful confined calls. Joel Schumacher is a rather inconsistent director. Unusual, yet capricious. From ‘The Lost Boys’ to ‘Batman & Robin’, his career has been considerably scattershot in terms of quality. Phone Booth, whilst quintessentially being a product of its time, happens to be his most simplistic. An arrogant publicist is held hostage in a phone booth by a mysterious sniper who offers him an ultimatum. A hyperbolised exercise in absolution from an absurdist’s perspective, Schumacher delivers a nail-biting thriller from the confinement of one besmirched public booth. Unscrupulous sex shops on one side of the grubby New York street, and a religiously inclined series of posters dictating “who do you think you are?” on the other side. It may just be a lightning paced disposable techno thriller to many, but if you divulge into the finer details you’ll notice it is overwhelmed with morality. The repentance of sins. Cleansing the soul from immorality. The harsh tones of Sutherland’s antagonistic voice, likening himself to a higher (or lower...) entity, offering Farrell’s Stu a chance for redemption. A surprisingly thematic endeavour for Schumacher, whether intentional or not, the religious symbolism in its subtle visuals or literary narrative were certainly profound. It smooths out the neo-noir roughness that forces this thriller to be nothing more than disposable entertainment. Aside from Farrell’s strong performance as the arrogantly unlikeable Stu and Sutherland’s menacing tone, the supporting cast were mediocre at best. Whitaker, Mitchell and Holmes rarely had an opportunity to shine within the mucky street and had a tendency to overact. The act of forgiveness, whilst being a pivotal point to the whole ordeal, seemed incredibly vacuous without much deliberate intervention. All too easy, considering how long Stu kept his unfaithful behaviour up for. Cohen’s script was sharp and concise, occasionally stagnating in moments of desperation when not knowing how to progress the hostage situation further. Stevens’ editing was swifter than Sutherland cocking his sniper rifle multiple times. On screen graphics to display scenes running simultaneously, such as police officers tracing the encrypted phone call, keeping the pace consistently tight. Some of visuals, such as the red dot from the sniper, obviously smelt of fakery as well as the space effects showcasing the satellite sending communications to mobile phone chips etc. Y’know, common tropes from films created in the early naughties. As I said, it’s very much a film of its time. Yet despite the rough disposable nature of Phone Booth, it’s a much more entertaining call then being on hold for an hour and a half. I can tell you that from experience...
CaseyReese2023-02-05
★ 6/10
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RalphRahal2024-12-14
★ 8/10
"Phone Booth" starts off a bit slow in the first act, but it quickly picks up the pace and becomes more intense as it goes along. Colin Farrell and Forest Whitaker deliver fantastic performances that really bring the intensity to life. Kiefer Sutherland, who I know and love from 24, is chilling as the voice on the phone, adding a menacing layer even without much screen time. What’s also impressive is that the whole movie was shot in just 10 days, with two extra days for some additional shots. It’s amazing they created such a suspenseful film in such a short time. Overall, I really enjoyed it!