If you think low budget movies can’t be good, watch Phone booth. It’s not the best movie I’ve ever seen but it surely is one of the finest movies I saw in a long time. It’s a perfect example of how to make films and anyone who wants to learn film making must watch this movie, with director’s commentary, if available.
The idea of the movie is simple. You are stuck in a phone booth, talking to a sniper who is aiming right at you, forcing you to be slave of his every whim. The fact that the sniper knows a lot about you and your personal life is scary. In this world of digital technology, it could happen to anyone. How hard it is to follow some body, track their every move, and use the information obtained against them. In the movie, the sniper justifies that our hero deserved that because he was a compulsive liar and disrespectful to other people, which according to the sniper is a punishable sin. Although arguable, but it makes sense. We do encounter many such people in our daily lives who lie to make a living. Marketing people, sales personals, lawyers, politicians, the list is long (no, not all of them). The sad thing is that we have accepted the fact that these people always lie and it’s ok for them to lie.
Like every other Hollywood movie, it had few technical glitches, one being that the sniper was able to aim at the phone booth and people around it from all directions. But it’s all right, since the movie overall was very powerful and kept me glued for the entire 80 minutes. Again, like most Hollywood movies, the ending was a surprise, with a possibility for a sequel. Although lacking any special effects, the movie was full of quotes. I give it 7.5 out of 10 points.
