Phonebooth
Call Joel Schumacher a hack if you will, a mediocre talent who can attract A-movies thanks to his early hits like Lost Boys. Most of his movies suffer from a jigsaw puzzle approach where things never seem quite finished.
But Phonebooth is an interesting deviation for him. It feels a little like a student film assignment carried off professionally with a slick style that stays relevant to the material, and with an engaging story that can be, at times, riveting.
The assignment: one location for 90% of the movie. In this case, a phone booth on a manhattan street, where a psychotic sniper holds a nickel-and-dime P.R. maven at bay, trapped in the last remaining phone booth in Manhattan (okay, it wouldn't be Joel's film without a little bit of contrivance).
It cannot be easy, trying to breath drama and a sense of action into a one-location film. Few have ever been able to take on that challenge successfully, but this is a shining example. The camerawork is thoughtful and rarely panders. The script by Larry Cohen, although it shows some Hollywood weaknesses, has a well woven plot and believable dialogue, brought together by Colin Farrell, Kiefer Sutherland and Forest Whitaker. I would say that, although this isn't a "great" thriller, it is certainly worth checking out - and if you are a film geek like me, worth studying,
But Phonebooth is an interesting deviation for him. It feels a little like a student film assignment carried off professionally with a slick style that stays relevant to the material, and with an engaging story that can be, at times, riveting.
The assignment: one location for 90% of the movie. In this case, a phone booth on a manhattan street, where a psychotic sniper holds a nickel-and-dime P.R. maven at bay, trapped in the last remaining phone booth in Manhattan (okay, it wouldn't be Joel's film without a little bit of contrivance).
It cannot be easy, trying to breath drama and a sense of action into a one-location film. Few have ever been able to take on that challenge successfully, but this is a shining example. The camerawork is thoughtful and rarely panders. The script by Larry Cohen, although it shows some Hollywood weaknesses, has a well woven plot and believable dialogue, brought together by Colin Farrell, Kiefer Sutherland and Forest Whitaker. I would say that, although this isn't a "great" thriller, it is certainly worth checking out - and if you are a film geek like me, worth studying,