Farrell's phone flick rings loud and clear

"Phone Booth" ends the prototypical wintertime filmgoing doldrums, and optimistically ushers in a new season of cinema. Shot in 10 days on a 10-million-dollar budget, this 81-minute morality play boasts more thrills and chills than other more highly touted and budgeted flicks of late. In a word, it's electric.\nColin Farrell anchors the film as sleazy publicist, Stu Shepard. Prowling the very non-Giuliani-esque streets of New York like a madman, lying and scheming into his cell phone and belittling his youthfully naive assistant along the way, Stu is a spoiled, media-induced, rat bastard. His comeuppance comes as he enters the last operable phone booth in Manhattan, wanly removes his wedding band and calls Pam (Katie Holmes), a client and prospective girlfriend. Why the booth? Because his wife, Kelly (Radha Mitchell), wisely inspects the cad's monthly cellular bills.\nThe phone in the booth rings, and Stu, rightfully assuming it's a "booty call," answers. But the caller's not Pam nor some other vixen, but rather a sardonically psycho sniper (Kiefer Sutherland), with a hair trigger and a personal vendetta. Chaos ensues and police are called to the scene, where Stu slowly builds rapport with the understanding Capt. Ramey (Forest Whitaker).\nAs directed by Joel Schumacher and written by schlockmeister Larry Cohen (the pen behind such "classics" as "Maniac Cop" and "Uncle Sam"), "Phone Booth" is a shrewd, economical and largely entertaining thriller. The film stumbles a tad with its somewhat overly preachy climax and amid the limitations of being so blatantly high concept. Redemption comes not only through the top-notch cinematography of frequent Darren Aronofsky collaborator, Matthew Libatique, but in bravura performances by Farrell and Sutherland (whose work is predominantly vocal).\nSchumacher, who has had his fair share of hits ("The Lost Boys," "Falling Down" and "A Time to Kill") and misses ("Batman and Robin," "8MM" and "Bad Company"), should collaborate with Farrell more often. "Phone Booth" marks the duo's second collaboration, this following Farrell's largely unappreciated American debut, "Tigerland." The two appear to infinitely elevate one another's game, and as such, "Phone Booth" is a suspense-riddled, cinematic call well worth taking.