Scene Anatomy 101: Phone Booth
Posted by George H. Sirois on 07.05.2006
The more claustrophobic, the better…
If Matthew Mills is still around here, this column's for him! He sent me a request almost two years ago to cover this film, and here it is…
When making a movie, so many filmmakers are tempted to go for a broader scope than what was originally intended. Nowadays, nobody can settle for having two or three characters in one room for a 90-minute long feature. There has to be something more going on. More characters have to be involved. Stakes have to be higher. It is, after all, a movie shown on the big screen and the action on that big screen has to reflect that.
But just because you can expand the action on the screen doesn't necessarily mean that you should. Case in point: the 2002 Joel Schumacher film Phone Booth. The story is a very simple, yet effective one. We are introduced to Stu Shepard (Colin Farrell), a publicist that steps all over everyone he knows to get as much success as he can. He lies to everyone he knows, including his wife, and on one ordinary day when Stu goes to his regular phone booth to call his mistress Pam (Katie Holmes), he is surprised to see that the phone inside is ringing. When he picks it up, Stu is told by a voice on the other end that if he hangs up the phone, the caller will kill him. We can see the laser scope of the caller's rifle, which shows that he means business. As the story unfolds, the caller puts Stu through a series of mental and emotional tests, trying his best to break him before he finally puts a bullet into his end and ends his misery.
Now, if this film only dealt with these two characters, we would have had a chance to see something truly revolutionary in modern cinema. The booth itself can be very claustrophobic so it would only make sense that the film be just as claustrophobic. But instead, director Joel Schumacher and writer Larry Cohen opted to include more characters on the outside of the booth, and to have other incidents happening on the streets of New York City. Hookers and strippers are trying to get inside to use the phone, Stu is accused of murdering a bouncer, and the police surround the booth while the caller is keeping Stu on the phone.
As the film unfolds and more characters get involved, we see both Stu's wife Kelly (Radha Mitchell) and Pam watching the booth with the police. Captain Ed Ramey (Forest Whitaker) is trying to have the call traced so Stu's life can be saved, and the caller (voiced by Kiefer Sutherland) has one special card that he has been waiting to play at the right time. He had a gun hidden inside the top of the booth, and he is instructing Stu to find it and reveal it to his audience.
This is the most effective moment in the film, since it deals directly with just the caller and Stu, and it even uses their audience watching outside the booth well. Plus, we get to see what the caller has had in mind for Stu all along.
STU: So all this shit just to watch me die, huh?
THE CALLER: No. To get you to do what's right. If you want to save yourself, confess.
Stu's confused about this demand. He had already told his wife about how he likes looking at young actresses because of his desire to sleep with them. He hoped that would be enough to get him off the hook here.
STU: I already told Kelly everything.
THE CALLER: Everything?! No.
What Stu had said before was nowhere near what the caller wants to hear. Time to use the cameras that the news reporters brought in to his advantage.
THE CALLER: No more excuses and half-truths, Stuart. You look out into those cameras and you bare your soul. TV seems to bring out the worst in people. You should be fine.
While Stu contemplates what the caller is demanding he do, tear down a wall that he had spent years putting together, the police is still hard at work trying to trace the call.
THE CALLER: Stuart, I'm offering you a chance to redeem yourself. Come on, Stu, humble yourself in front of your loved ones and millions of strangers… and me. It's do or die time.
The caller cocks his rifle just to freak Stu out a bit. He's apparently been spending a lot of time putting this plot together. The caller might as well have a little fun seeing it executed.
Stuart starts speaking to the caller, a little louder so that others at a close range can hear him. Hopefully this will appease the man who's turning his life completely upside down.
STU: So you couldn't find anyone worse than me? Not a murderer or a child molester, but a publicist who has fantasies about pretty little actresses, who spends all his money on Italian suits, who doesn't waste any time being nice to people that can't do anything for him. These are my crimes.
Unfortunately, Stu's plan fails. It's not good enough.
THE CALLER: Stuart, I know your crimes. Tell them.
There's a long pause as Stuart starts to come to grips with what he has to do. Can he even swing the sledgehammer to bring down his own wall? Or will he let the truth die with him by simply hanging up the phone?
Stu makes his decision. He stays on the phone and leans his head out of the booth to address the crowd that's still growing on the New York City streets.
STU: I've never done anything for anybody that couldn't do something for me! I string along an eager kid with promises that I'll pay him money! I only keep him around because he looks up to me! Adam, if you're watching, don't be a publicist! You're too good for it!
Adam is there, taking in the whole situation. I'm sure he's praying that he never turns out to be like Stu, stuck in a situation like this.
Stu is now fishing for more rotten things about himself to say to everyone. Fortunately, he's built up quite a bit of reserves.
STU: I, uh, I lie in person and on the phone! I lie to my friends! I lie to newspapers and magazines who sell my lies to more and more people! I… I'm just part of a big cycle of lies. I should be fucking President!
Stu now starts to dig a little deeper into himself. The wall is starting to come down, and it's actually getting easier for Stu to talk.
STU: I wear all this Italian shit because underneath, I still feel like the Bronx! I think I need these clothes and this watch! My 2,000 dollar watch is a fake and so am I! I neglected the things I should have valued most! I value this shit!
As Stu continues to bare his soul, he can see both Kelly and Pam looking at him and listening. This is Stu's opportunity to truly bare his soul and get rid of the guilt he's been bottling up for so long.
STU: I take off my wedding ring to call Pam. Kelly, that's Pam.
Stu points Pam out to Kelly, and the two of them exchange a glance.
STU: Don't blame her! I never told her I was married, and if I did, she would have told me to go home.
Stu can't keep his eyes off of Kelly as he continues to break down.
STU: Kelly, looking at you now, I'm ashamed of myself. I work so hard on this image. Stu Shepard, the asshole who refers to himself in the third person that I only prove… I should be alone. I've been dressing up as someone I'm not for so long that I'm afraid you won't like what's underneath. But here I am, just flesh and blood and weakness. And… uh… I love you so fucking much.
Stu starts to sob as he keeps talking. So much has been stored up in him for so long that it's almost cathartic for the caller to be doing this to him.
STU: I take off this ring because it only reminds me of how I failed you. I don't want to give you up. I want to make things better, but I don't think I have that choice now.
And finally, Stu says what has been on his mind this whole time to Kelly.
STU: You deserve better.
It's out now. Everything that Stu has been keeping from the world is out for all to see. He wishes that the caller would just hang up now and let Stu out of his life, but he can't hear a click on the other end. The caller's still there, rejoicing in this revealing of Stu's past sins.
As Stu tries to collect himself in the booth, he realizes the truth about his situation.
STU: You're not gonna let me go.
THE CALLER: No.
He's not free and clear now that he did what was asked. This call is going to end badly, and Stu knows it.
STU: You never were. I know a thing about lies. And I know a thing or two about liars.
THE CALLER: Then why the confession?
Stu takes a deep breath before answering the question.
STU: I didn't do it for you.
Yes, now that Stu's past crimes are told to everyone around the booth, Stu knows that he scored a major victory over the caller. He knew what was going on, and he very well could have just hung up the phone and taken a bullet between the eyes. But instead, with the walls of the very small phone booth closing around him, Stu looked his greatest fears in the eye and cleaned his own slate. He was able to own up to his mistakes and if he gets out of this mess alive, he just might be able to atone for them.
But like I said before, this is where the film works the most. There is a chess game going on here between the caller and Stu, and the less the outside people are involved, the more interesting the story is. Maybe if the movie was released as a short film, it would have been able to be a lot more claustrophobic. But as it is now, we thankfully have this special moment to look back on and wonder what might have been.
Next week, we'll be looking at another game of chess between two crewmen on a submarine, with both crewmen played by two of the very best Academy Award winning actors. So it's a safe bet it's a pretty good scene.
