How can they make a whole movie that takes place in a phone booth? This was the question asked by friends of mine last week when I described to them the new Colin Farrell flick, Phone Booth. Answer? Easily and successfully.

Phone Booth is an unorthodox, yet very-21st-century suspense film shot in real-time, meaning that the 80-minute movie actually shows 80 straight minutes of uninterrupted narrative within the film world.

Shot on a relatively low budget in only a couple weeks' time, Phone Booth suffered a setback last fall when its release date was pushed back due to the D.C. sniper shootings. However, the film debuted at No. 1 this past weekend, raking in $15 million, already making back its budget.

The entire film takes place on one New York City block as Stu Shepard (Farrell), our flawed protagonist, has a day that goes from bad to worse. A slimy, dishonest publicist, Stu gets his comeuppance after picking up a not-so-randomly ringing phone in a phone booth. On the other end is a man threatening to snipe Stu on the spot unless he does everything he says.

Things look even bleaker for Stu as the cops show up, falsely accusing him of murdering a man taken out by the sniper. Things only get better for the audience as we watch as Stu is forced to carry out crazier and crazier commands by the sniper on the other end of the phone.

The intelligent use of multiple camera shots on screen at once (à la 24) helps easily organize and illustrate the many simultaneous events going on around the city block and elsewhere.

The film's ending may leave a little to be desired for some, rightfully dubbed "preachy" by one fellow film viewer, but does not damage the movie enough to make it unpleasant to watch. Phone Booth, while thematically weak, is still a recommended alternative to the typical Hollywood fare in theatres this month.

-- Reviewed by Jason Cox