The Cell (2000)
Enter the mind of a killer
Starring: Jennifer Lopez, Vince Vaughn, Vincent D'Onofrio, Colton James, Dylan Baker, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Gerry Becker, Musetta Vander, Patrick Bauchau, Catherine Sutherland, James Gammon, Jake Weber, Dean Norris, Tara Subkoff, Lauri Johnson
Director: Tarsem Singh
Running Time: 107 minutes
US MPAA rating: N/AUK BBFC rating: 18
Horror, Science Fiction, Thriller
On DVD This film is weirder than weird Jack McWeird, the weirdo who runs the weird shop in Weirdsville. Whether that's a good or a bad thing is probably something you'll need to decide for yourselves, but personally it's something I can generally do without. I'd much rather see a movie with a well-written script and engaging plot than one that's technically and visually awesome but with little else going for it. 'The Cell', for the most part, falls into the latter category.
Jennifer Lopez plays Catherine Deane, a respected social worker called upon by the FBI to delve, literally, into the mind of a comatose serial-killer (Vincent D'Onofrio). He likes bleaching corpses, dangling from skin-implanted hooks, attacking women in dimly-lit multi-storey car parks and watching people drown. Form an orderly queue, ladies!
Using experimental mind-hopping equipment, J-Lo takes a trip through the psyche of this funster in an attempt to discover the location of his latest abductee - who, somewhere out there, is trapped in a perspex box that's gradually filling up with water. Beat that, David Blaine!
Vince Vaughn does his best but is woefully miscast as the FBI agent overseeing the whole affair, and most of the rest of the acting on display is only so-so. In fact, much like the distinctly 'Silence of the Lambs'-esque plot, the performances of the cast take a back seat to the eye-popping (and at times pretty darn unpleasant) imagery on-screen for most of the duration. And, if you think any of it bears more than a passing resemblance to REM's 'Losing My Religion' vid, it's probably because both are the work of Indian director Tarsem Singh.
DVD Extras: Director's commentary, isolated score, deleted scenes, behind-the-scenes footage, trailers, filmographies and interactivites. The "interactivities" section contains, amongst other things, an "empathy test" which told me I have "room for improvement in my emotional intellect". Shows what they know.
It's Got: A horse that really needs to pull itself together.
It Needs: To exchange some of its artistic pretensions for a stronger plot and some better characters.
Alternatives: The Silence of the Lambs, The Bone Collector, Altered States
Summary: Visually it's one of the most inventive pieces of cinema you're likely to see, but in every other department it's essentially run-of-the-mill.
Review by Gary Panton
Review Date: 4th November 2003
External Links
Official Web Site
The Cell at the IMDB
Comments1 Comment |
| The Cell is the most disgusting filth I've seen in years, and that's saying something.Ever seen the disembowlment seen in Braveheart?Well, this movie has a disembolwment scene that bows that one away.1/10 |
| Comment by:- Janus Pick | | 08 November 2004 | ip: logged |
