Joel Schumacher, 2002
"Phone Booth"
Reparto: Colin Farrell (Stu Shepard), Forest Whitaker (Capitán Ramey), Katie Holmes (Pamela McFadden), Radha Mitchell (Kelly Shepard), Kiefer Sutherland (El interlocutor), Paula Jai Parker (Felicia), Arian Ash (Corky), Tia Texada (Asia), John Enos (Leon), Richard T. Jones (Sargento Cole), Keith Nobbs (Adam).
Guión: Larry Cohen.
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La cabina"Phone Booth"
Reparto: Colin Farrell (Stu Shepard), Forest Whitaker (Capitán Ramey), Katie Holmes (Pamela McFadden), Radha Mitchell (Kelly Shepard), Kiefer Sutherland (El interlocutor), Paula Jai Parker (Felicia), Arian Ash (Corky), Tia Texada (Asia), John Enos (Leon), Richard T. Jones (Sargento Cole), Keith Nobbs (Adam).
Guión: Larry Cohen.
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El título original de “última llamada” es Phone Booth, “la cabina”, pero los distribuidores han querido evitar un título que ya es famoso en España. La vieja película de José Luis Lopez Vázquez habla de un hombre atrapado en una cabina la cual se convierte en un universo cerrado y perverso. Stu, Collin Farrel, es atrapado en una cabina por un francotirador al que no vemos. El asesino amenaza al protagonista y asesina a un chulo para demostrar que no está jugando.
¿De qué sirve apuntar a un hombre indefenso durante una hora dentro de una cabina? Ese es el quid de la cuestión. Y como la película está hecha por un maldito puritano, heredero de aquellos talibanes del cristianismo que nadie aguantaba en Europa y que tuvieron que emigrar a una colonia para dar rienda suelta a su integrismo, pues resulta que el asesino es la voz de la conciencia de Farell. El asesino está ofendido porque Stu no es un marido bueno ni tampoco es un agente de prensa honrado. Se ve que el director tiene mala conciencia por esas chorradas. Y yo me pregunto cuanto tiempo tendremos que escuchar a todos estos imberbes usando el altavoz de su industria cinematográfica para que todos sepamos lo culpables que se sienten desde que le quitaron un chupa-chups a su hermanita pequeña.
Eso es lo único que puedo decir del fondo. Luego está la forma, el relato, que funciona bastante bien. Igual que el Hitchcock más experimentador, la acción se cierra en una cabina de una calle neoyorquina, el asesino no tiene cara, sólo una voz al teléfono. Las opciones de Stu son pocas y el policía busca una explicación y un autor inteligente. El juego engancha a la perfección si uno es capaz de olvidarse del tufo moralista.
Criticalia | Enrique Colmena ***
un pícaro de medio pelo, que vive bastante bien a base de mentir y tender sus pequeñas triquiñuelas dentro del mundo del espectáculo, se encontrará inopinadamente en la diana de un psicópata de mente retorcida e inteligencia pluscuamperfecta que le impide salir de una cabina de teléfono, so pena de matarlo, a él o a sus seres queridos, y haciendo que el pobre pelanas llegue a ser sospechoso de asesinato, todo ello sin moverse del cubículo telefónico callejero, la última cabina de Nueva York.
Así las cosas, la tensión fluye generosamente, guiada con habilidad por la mano experta de Schumacher, que si bien no puede decirse que sea Hitchcock a la hora de filmar una intriga, sí que lo hace con notable eficacia, aunque no tenga los méritos del gran Sir Alfred.
The Charlotte Observer | Lawrence Toppman 3/4
He uses split-screen without distracting or confusing us, and he wrings a lot of energy from the small cluster of superficial characters and the trapped Stu. This movie can't atone for Schumacher's recent disasters - 'Bad Company,' '8MM,' 'Flawless,' 'Batman and Robin' - but it proves the director of the underrated 'Falling Down' can still tell a taut story about a man at the end of his tether.
The New York Observer | Rex Reed
There was Barbara Stanwyck in Sorry, Wrong Number. Now there’s Colin Farrell in Phone Booth. Amazing how much cuticle-gnawing suspense you can get out of one character and a telephone. Thanks to Joel Schumacher’s taut, no-nonsense direction, and Mr. Farrell’s sweaty, white-knuckle intensity, Phone Booth is harrowing proof that the old formula still works.
Mr. Schumacher employs split screens to show multiple reactions from the surrounding area, but this is basically a one-man show, and Mr. Farrell gives it all he’s got. A hunky hedonist who seems more interested in generating his own P.R. than learning his craft, the Irish rogue acts primarily by following his instincts. But in this film, he delivers an unexpectedly complex performance as the wannabe high-roller who thinks he’s about 10 feet tall until his arrogance is suddenly diminished in a space about three feet square.
Mr Cranky
The ridiculous premise of "Phone Booth" is that a sniper has publicist Stu Shepard (Colin Farrell) pinned down in a phone booth. His problem with Shepard? Well, Stu is something of a player and he's sinned in his heart. Stu is trying to put the moves on a client, Pamela McFadden (Katie Holmes), though he's married to hottie Kelly (Radha Mitchell). How the sniper knows this, we have no idea. We're just supposed to buy it.
So for about eighty minutes, the sniper tries to get Stu to come to grips with his real self and admit that he's scummy, kind of like a very warped version of Dr. Phil. If you can imagine Dr. Phil with a rifle, hidden behind a curtain, you basically have "Phone Booth". Capt. Ramey (Forest Whitaker) shows up on the scene and tries to figure out why this guy won't get off the phone. Meanwhile, Kelly and Pamela stand around pouting like girl scouts who came up a few boxes short on their sales quota.
"Phone Booth" may be short on time and space, but it's long on stupidity.
un pícaro de medio pelo, que vive bastante bien a base de mentir y tender sus pequeñas triquiñuelas dentro del mundo del espectáculo, se encontrará inopinadamente en la diana de un psicópata de mente retorcida e inteligencia pluscuamperfecta que le impide salir de una cabina de teléfono, so pena de matarlo, a él o a sus seres queridos, y haciendo que el pobre pelanas llegue a ser sospechoso de asesinato, todo ello sin moverse del cubículo telefónico callejero, la última cabina de Nueva York.
Así las cosas, la tensión fluye generosamente, guiada con habilidad por la mano experta de Schumacher, que si bien no puede decirse que sea Hitchcock a la hora de filmar una intriga, sí que lo hace con notable eficacia, aunque no tenga los méritos del gran Sir Alfred.
The Charlotte Observer | Lawrence Toppman 3/4
He uses split-screen without distracting or confusing us, and he wrings a lot of energy from the small cluster of superficial characters and the trapped Stu. This movie can't atone for Schumacher's recent disasters - 'Bad Company,' '8MM,' 'Flawless,' 'Batman and Robin' - but it proves the director of the underrated 'Falling Down' can still tell a taut story about a man at the end of his tether.
The New York Observer | Rex Reed
There was Barbara Stanwyck in Sorry, Wrong Number. Now there’s Colin Farrell in Phone Booth. Amazing how much cuticle-gnawing suspense you can get out of one character and a telephone. Thanks to Joel Schumacher’s taut, no-nonsense direction, and Mr. Farrell’s sweaty, white-knuckle intensity, Phone Booth is harrowing proof that the old formula still works.
Mr. Schumacher employs split screens to show multiple reactions from the surrounding area, but this is basically a one-man show, and Mr. Farrell gives it all he’s got. A hunky hedonist who seems more interested in generating his own P.R. than learning his craft, the Irish rogue acts primarily by following his instincts. But in this film, he delivers an unexpectedly complex performance as the wannabe high-roller who thinks he’s about 10 feet tall until his arrogance is suddenly diminished in a space about three feet square.
Mr Cranky
The ridiculous premise of "Phone Booth" is that a sniper has publicist Stu Shepard (Colin Farrell) pinned down in a phone booth. His problem with Shepard? Well, Stu is something of a player and he's sinned in his heart. Stu is trying to put the moves on a client, Pamela McFadden (Katie Holmes), though he's married to hottie Kelly (Radha Mitchell). How the sniper knows this, we have no idea. We're just supposed to buy it.
So for about eighty minutes, the sniper tries to get Stu to come to grips with his real self and admit that he's scummy, kind of like a very warped version of Dr. Phil. If you can imagine Dr. Phil with a rifle, hidden behind a curtain, you basically have "Phone Booth". Capt. Ramey (Forest Whitaker) shows up on the scene and tries to figure out why this guy won't get off the phone. Meanwhile, Kelly and Pamela stand around pouting like girl scouts who came up a few boxes short on their sales quota.
"Phone Booth" may be short on time and space, but it's long on stupidity.