I'd like to give this a higher score but you've got to allow for pristine excellence. MPB doesn't have that but it noses around in that area.As you've read in other comments, the phone booth (until 2000) was real, the tales told in the movie are fictional. The very real phone booth inspired someone (you can look it up) to weave tales around a very unique phone booth.The concept is something someone should have made up but took a niche of reality to jump start things. It would have been such a triumph for someone to cobble this together from scratch. But so much of fiction uses the hodgepodge of fact for a launching pad. No foul. It's how things work.In the movie, it's one lady (suspiciously wise, lady) who calls the MPB ... and, occasionally, someone is there to answer it. When that happens, the ability of humans to be confessional with a disembodied voice (versus face to face with people we know)kicks in and the stories that create the film unfold.It's a wonderful format and allows an experimental exploration of cinema on several levels.It's just plain enjoyable and fascinating because it tinkers with something that exists in our world and something that tinkers with what we wish, might, possibly, perhaps, could exist in our world.In reality, once the phone number for the MPB was out; everyone would be calling it, trying to connect with someone at that lone outpost and reduce its "special-ness" and "unique-ness" to lowest levels of mediocrity.That's what we do. Something very special and unique shows up and we leap upon it, shred it, commercialize it, suck it dry of any meaning and slap it on t-shirts and bumper stickers, thump our chests and go looking for the next significant thing we can reduce to nothingness with our rampant and relentless egos.This film takes a pause with a very special something that really existed and wonders what would happen if the honest human element got hold of it.And a collection of stories come together.When it's over, you might find yourself thinking about all the other things that could happen if we had a phone booth in the middle of nowhere that would ring at random times and have a disembodied entity on the other end that could help us find our way through whatever dilemma enveloped our lives at the moment.Wouldn't you love something like that? I would.I don't have the answers. I'd like to knock words with someone who might.Nice foundation for a different kind of film. Fortunately; it's called "Mojave Phone Booth".Worth your time.

I'll leave it to others to discuss the plot, acting and photography other than to say that many of the shots in this movie could be printed and hung on your wall as art. The cinematography by Keith Duggan is spectacular. Well, I'll also say that the characters come across as real people- people that you feel you might actually have among your friends.I saw this picture at the Sedona Film Festival. "What a great picture," I thought. After the showing, Jerry Rapp, the co-writer and co-producer came up to answer some questions. Then I was completely blown away. Some facts about the movie: 1) Shooting time? 18 days! 2) Number in crew? No more than 8 at a time, and that includes director/writers/ producers! Many of them did double duty. 3) Everyone drove themselves to and from the set or location. And, speaking of cars, the cars you see the actors driving in the movie are their own cars! 4) There was no up-front pay. However, gas money was provided along with food. All crew and talent are share holders in 50% of the film's grosses after the initial production budget is recouped. That is, after the budget is payed back, 50% of whatever the movie makes is split evenly between everyone involved. (I don't know who gets the other 50%. But, whoever it is, deserves it.) Shows what a dedicated group of professionals can accomplish if they work together.The only other comment I'll make is to relieve the consternation someone else might have. The background music during the first episode was hauntingly familiar. During the Q&A I asked Jerry if it was original or came from another source. It was original but inspired by the 1974 Gene Hackman film, The Conversation. If you've seen that film, you'll know why it was haunting.Keep your eye out for this picture and when it comes around, see it!P.S., If you want to know what Jerry Rapp looks like, he's the flower delivery boy in the movie. I told you everybody did double duty in this movie.

I have been going over MPB in my mind on a fairly regular basis since I saw it at the FirstGlance Hollywood Film Fest and I again commend director/writer John Putch for really capturing in such a raw and gentle way the extremes of need and outreach. When I find myself actually believing that the guy is going to get rid of the alien bugs (on that wonderfully created zany, hopelessly neurotic woman), I know the casting and writing are doing their jobs very well. I also thought the "sane" half of the lesbian couple was amazing. Also, the scene where the real estate lie was revealed had such an unexpected punch to it. Every single actor was off the dial. Not one wrong note and hundreds of great choices. Having it on the outskirts of Vegas creates such a symbiosis between 2 emptiness-es, we realize there is nowhere to hide. We are all drowning in the wide open vacuum of our own disconnection, no matter how we try to dress it up. It is really a phenomenal indictment of what happens to the American Dreamer when the roots of the soul have atrophied and only the unnourished surface is left.

The film tells the stories of four people who are all connected through the Mojave phone booth. The stories are fictional, but the Mojave phone booth was actually in service in the Mojave National Preserve until 2000, when the National Parks Service removed it. After the phone number appeared on a website in the late 90's, people from all over the world would call the number and visit the phone booth, and it became a cult icon. In the film, the same person always calls the phone booth and provides informal therapy sessions for each of the four main characters. The film is excellent, with richly drawn characters and captivating stories. Great acting by all the cast, but especially Annabeth Gish and Christine Elise. This is one of those movies you want to go see again to catch all the details and connections between the stories that may have slipped by on the first viewing.