90s/00s cat and mouse involving pay phones

Hi, hoping someone can help me. For a few years now I have been trying to remember the name of a suspense thriller film I remember watching in the 90s/00s. I can’t remember much other than that there was a scene which stuck in my head around the main character (the good guy, who might have been a cop) having to get to various pay phones (in a US city) within a certain time in order to pick up calls from the bad guy (who would them give the clue for the next location/pay phone). I think there was also a scene (possibly in a shopping mall) where the bad guy told the (or vice versa) good guy to wear a red cap. From memory it has a suspense/cat and mouse vibe, and I feel like there may have been ransoms (and/or possibly explosives) involved. In my mind the lead character was someone like Denzel Washington but I have searched his movies with no luck... please help I will be eternally grateful!

It sounds a little like Die Hard with a Vengeance

It might be Ransom 1996

I remember a movie like that. But I can't actually picture the character and do not remember the title. In one scene he has to chase off a random passerby that is going to pick up the phone.



But I am pretty sure this scenario has been done in multiple movies.

This also happens in Die Hard With A Vengeance

The red cap thing is probably the truck driver that's clued up on presidents

Dirty Harry has Eastwood running from payphone to payphone to listen to the kidnapper's instructions. But that's 1971, so it doesn't fit your timeline.

Amazing thanks all, looking at the synopsis on Wikipedia I think Die Hard With a Vengeance is the right one! I will watch tonight and let you know! Thank you so much this has been bugging me for ages!

Sounds like you found your film.

I will just throw out there that in 2001 there was the film Along Came a Spider starring Morgan Freeman. There is a scene in that film where Freeman has to run from payphone to payphone in DC to do a ransom drop.

Phone booth