Phone Booth (DVD 2003)

Smartmouth New York publicist Stu Shepard (Colin Farrell) uses a public phone to ring the object of his extramarital affections (Katie Holmes). There, he takes a call from a stranger who threatens that if he hangs up, he'll be shot.

As the tagline would have it, Stu's "life is on the line".

Can he talk his way clear of trouble? What does The Caller want? And when a passer-by is shot, can Stu persuade police captain Ramey (Forest Whitaker) he's not responsible?

Schumacher stacks up the stylistic tricks, keeping his camera flighty, flicking round the static situation, feeding off the fear of the protagonist. Veteran journeyman scripter Larry Cohen, meanwhile, mostly avoids or undercuts clichés - creating dialogue a little too bespoke to be believable, but amusing and angry nonetheless.

No amount of smoke and mirrors could compensate if the casting was off, however. Here, "Phone Booth" hits the bullseye. Farrell is phenomenal. Stu is an arrogant, amoral gadabout, who lies for a living.