Box Office

Tonight, I introduce a segment called "One of Tizzle's favorite movies that you have probably either never seen or think is terrible." Or, as I like to call it, OOTFMTYHPENSOTIT. I make no excuses for my taste in movies. Some I like, others I don't, others are just ok. That's just the way it is.

Tonight's OOTFMTYHPENSOTIT is a early '00s (I still am looking for a decent name for this decade) thriller starring Colin Farrell, Keifer Sutherland, Forrest Whitaker, and Katie Holmes. It's called "Phone Booth." When I heard about this movie, I remember being skeptical. "How can a whole movie take place inside a phone booth?" I remember thinking, in a much higher pitched voice. Well, I was not dissapointed. For those unfamiliar, here is the idea (without giving much away) - guy goes into a phone booth to make a call, starts talking to a crazy guy who makes him do whatever he wants and doesn't let him leave the booth. It's somehow simple yet crazy.

I like this movie for several reasons. First, as you may have guessed, I like it because they play no games with the title. Second, fellow 24 fans like myself know that Keifer has a great threatening voice. In 24, we get two volumes: yelling and whispering. Phone Booth opened me up to a whole new side of Keifer - regular volume talking. He does the creepy twisted voice a little too well. Kind of like Colin's a little too good at playing the D-bag...hmm....Third, it is short. 81 minutes. I don't need a 2 and a half hour thrill ride. That's too much thrill. Especially in a movie like this.

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read any further if you have some desire to see the movie and have not. The fourth reason I like this movie is because you are thinking "alright, he's gotta get out of the booth soon, right?" the WHOLE time. This can't be it, right? Oh but it is. I didn't think they could pull it off but they do. I can't imagine being stuck in somewhere like that for so long where I would have to stand up the whole time. As a kid, trying to stand through the whole Palm Sunday gospel was bad enough. And that was probably about 7 minutes. I'm a sitter, and I always will be.

SPOILER ALERT AVERTED

Colin Farrell in real life has a pretty serious irish accent. His American with a healthy taste of New York in this one is fantastic. I am always impressed at actors who can do that.