A slick New York publicist who picks up a ringing receiver in a phone booth is told that if he hangs up, he'll be killed... and the little red light from a laser rifle sight is proof that the caller isn't kidding.
A first-tier thriller, Phone Booth will make you think twice before you ever enter a public phone facility again, but while it curls your hair, it makes you think.
– Rex Reed,
New York Observer,
15 Apr 2003
rotten:
If this sounds like a Kafkaesque spoof thrown together for the annual Publicists Guild of America luncheon, Larry Cohen's script is only occasionally that clever.
– Jack Mathews,
New York Daily News,
22 Apr 2003
rotten:
The premise is admittedly a killer -- fun to think about, fun to see realized, not so fun to see screwed up in the last half-hour.
– David Edelstein,
Slate,
22 Apr 2003
rotten:
Raises more questions than it answers as it attempts to convince us that a moralistic sniper would torture a sleazy publicist into tears of guilt and remorse over what amounts to a few paltry, venial sins.