Ahhhh, finally a good movie.
When it came out, of course, the critics said it sounded like a misfire, but managed to be quite good. Right on both counts.
The premise of the script by Larry Cohen (of Maniac Cop infamy) is tight. Last phone booth in one section of New York. A too–slick PR guy who’s thinking of two–timing his wife with a pert and pretty little aspiring actress. And a faceless nobody sitting in judgment over this professional liar. With a silenced rifle and scope.
The flick begins with a Narrator telling us about the rise of cell phones and the eclipse of old–fashioned phone booths. This is a device I haven’t seen in a long time, and strikes me as a tribute to older classic films. Executive Suite begins this way, and the script for North By Northwest does also. It works well.
While not a horror film, there is something horrifying about having someone you’ve never met sitting in absolute judgment over you. In fact, the character who does sit in judgment has a pretty hefty god complex. (Realizing that it’s just Jack Bauer having a bad day does nothing allay the discomfort. 
)
Joel Schumacher, the hack director responsible for destroying the Batman franchise, as well as for such pieces of dreck as 8mm and Dying Young, manages to keep things on an even keel and never lose sight of the script’s goals.
Not much to say about it, really. I enjoyed it thoroughly. It’s a taut little thriller, that makes brilliant use of its seeming limitations, and old–fashioned thriller like they (mostly) don’t make anymore.