To those who might be wondering: Yes, this is an 81 minute film about a man inside a Phone Booth. Surprisingly, this is an outstanding 81 minute film about a man inside a Phone Booth. Sadly, the DVD doesn't add very much, but the film itself is strong enough on it's own to warrant a purchase.

Young actor Colin Farrell stars as Stu Shepard, a publicist inside the overly crowded New York City. He is the perfect example of a person your supposed to hate. He is constantly throwing empty promises out to magazines, ripping off a young kid looking to get a break into the business with Farrell, cheating on his wife, etc. Finally, everything catches up with him. As he steps into the phone booth he uses to call the other woman (Toledo native Katie Holmes) in his life every day, a sniper (Keifer Sutherland in one of the most unique movie roles of all time) pins him down. The tables take an even larger turn for the worse when the sniper picks off a civilian drawing the police (headed by Forest Whitaker) and SWAT team to the area.

The pacing of this brief experiment in psychological terror is relentless. Colin's character is set up in a matter of minutes and from here on out it's him and the lonely confines of a phone booth with a man who continuously breaks him down. He toys with him, sends him warning shots, and literally causes him to break down on national TV. There are no major twists in the story and the ending is on the disappointing side, but the tension Joel Schumacher creates is breathtaking. At a brisk 81 minutes (including the credits), there's no time for boredom to set in and the unique camera shots always keep things interesting. People who go in expecting action will be highly disappointed, but even these people will be drawn into this gripping thriller.

The DVD comes with both a widescreen and full-screen version (on opposite sides of the disc). The full screen version is hardly watch able, cutting off the picture-in-picture segments, one of the more unique aspects of the movie, directly in half. The picture, regardless of which format you choose however, is gorgeous. Most of the film retains a dark feel, from Colin's suit to the city towering above him. Colors are faded for effect and it all works thanks to the quality of the print. There are very few instances where the compression of the video becomes a problem and even these are negligible.