Customer Reviews

Cellular [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(57)
4 star:		(50)
3 star:		(26)
2 star:		(21)
1 star:		(20)

 

 

I've yet to succumb to the temptation to own a cell phone. CELLULAR has me thinking that perhaps life is passing me by.

Jessica Martin (Kim Bassinger) lives the good life in the SoCal suburb of Brentwood - you know, where OJ lived - with her realtor husband Craig (Richard Burgi) and 11-year old son Ricky (Adam Taylor Gordon). One day, after waving Ricky off on the school bus, Jessica's home is invaded by three thugs led by Greer (Jason Statham). After shooting the housekeeper - perhaps one of the shortest bit parts in history, the intruders carry Martin off to a house in the hills (with a million $ view of the San Fernando Valley), where she's locked in the attic with a smashed phone until Craig hands over an item about which she knows nothing. Being a high school science teacher, Jessica coaxes the phone back to life and dials out by touching two wires together. Calling blindly, she manages to reach the young and irresponsible Ryan (Chris Evans) cruising the coast down by Venice Beach. After much tearful pleading, Martin convinces Ryan that her plight is real, and this launches the latter off on a day-long odyssey of chases and violence as he tries to rescue Jessica and her soon-to-be-abducted son, all the while maintaining that tenuous phone connection to the near-hysterical woman. Obviously, Ryan has never heard the old adage, "No good deed goes unpunished."

CELLULAR has everything necessary for a vicarious, nail-biting thrill ride at the movies. There's the truly vicious villain (Greer), the gorgeous damsel in distress (Jessica), and the completely engaging knight-errant (Ryan), all perfectly played by their respective actors in an ingenious plot. Then there's the delicious supporting role of William H. Macy as Mooney, the police desk sergeant who reluctantly gets involved in the mayhem when all he really wants is to retire and run a day spa with his girlfriend. And to top it off, the film's creators bedevil Ryan with those little daily annoyances that the viewers will personally know so well: a patronizing sales clerk, having to "take a number" in a crowded store, an obnoxious lawyer, bad cellular reception in tunnels and stairwells, an officious security guard, a driver in the next car playing the stereo too loud, slowpokes in the fast lane, and street delays caused by inopportune construction.

CELLULAR isn't one of the year's greatest cinematic achievements, but, for pure entertainment value and fun, it rates 5 stars if you're not too discriminating and willing to overlook a few credibility gaps. I mean, you can't actually park your car curbside in front of the terminal at LAX.

Finally, Jessica's knowledge of human anatomy, when combined with a sharp object, gives fair warning that you probably don't want to p.o. your high school science teacher.

This is one of my favorite movies in recent years. In the film, Jessica (Kim Basinger) is kidnapped and manages to click the wires on a smashed phone to place a call. She reaches beach slacker Ryan (Chris Evans) and manages to convince him that she's telling the truth and to get help. What ensues is a mad rush through downtown Los Angeles as Ryan tries desperately to assist her. The DVD has some good features on it (interviews, scene selection, etc.), and the movie overall was well made. If you are into this sort of movie, I recommend it. You will not be disappointed in the least bit.

Cellular is a sleeper hit. A long overdue example of a real edge-of-your-seat thriller that is well-written and well-acted. Great driving and action scenes are complemented by humor.

The story is about a carefree California youth who becomes embroiled in a conspiracy involving dirty LA cops and a kidnapped family. Kim Basinger turns in a great performance as the wife and mother fighting for her life against Ethan, the leader of the corrupt cops. Played by Jason Statham (The Transporter), Ethan is a competent bad guy.

My husband and I loved this movie. It has the wake-up equivalent of black coffee.

This film has three main characters, wonderfully played by Kim Basinger, Chris Evans and Jason Stratham. Basinger's character is constantly terrified, but always resourceful in a crunch. Evans's character is cheerful, energetic and opportunistic in the best sense. Stratham's character is menacing. There are many hilarious situations and the cell phone (and all it can do) is always moving the plot along. Great minor characters and performances add to the mix. Not deep at all, but exceptional entertainment!

"Cellular" has a gimmicky plot and unbelievable situations, but it's pretty darn good, so who cares?

I mean, how often does this happen...you get a call on your cellular from a woman kidnapped in an attic. She can't call anyone else, because the phone she is using is smashed, but she managed to dial your number by twisting together two wires.

You try to get the police to believe you, but you are having trouble because the battery on your cell phone dies out every time you give it to the police.

Ok, this happened to me last Friday, but for the rest of you, if you go along with it, it does hold your interest and is exciting at parts. Kim Basinger, Chris Evans and William Macy are all always fun to watch, too.

So..enjoy...and who knows, maybe after seeing it, you'll feel like it isn't safe to answer your cellular again.

"Cellular" is a fast-paced action/suspense from the get-go. It has barely set the scene when a group of men burst into Jessica Martin's (Kim Basinger) suburban home, abduct her, and imprison her in an attic. To make sure she is unable to communicate with the outside world, her captor, Ethan (Jason Statham), takes a baseball bat to the only telephone in the attic, and old but functioning rotary dial model. Unable to find any means of escape, a terrified Jessica places her hope in the shattered telephone, whose wiring still works in spite of having no dial or handset. Eventually, she gets through to someone: a flippant self-centered young man named Ryan (Chris Evans) who is intent on running an errand for his girlfriend and annoyed by the unexpected caller on his cell phone. Initially incredulous, Ryan becomes convinced of Jessica's kidnapping story and tries his best to help her her while driving around Los Angeles trying desperately not to lose her signal.

"Cellular" excels at being fast and exciting. Accepting that Ryan cannot find any police officer to help him requires suspension of disbelief. The car chases are nothing that I haven't seen so many times before that I really didn't want to see it in this movie. And Ryan's personality will rub some members of the audience the wrong way. He's annoying. But none of that is enough to undermine "Cellular"'s compact, energetic entertainment value. Kim Basinger is really quite convincing as a terrified, desperate wife and mother. She's a strong character who tries to control what she can of her situation, so avoids any "damsel in distress" cliché. And since there is no romantic interest between Jessica and her would-be savior, Ryan, "Cellular" sidesteps another cliché. Cell phones are ubiquitous in contemporary film, but this is one of the few that succeeds in using them to advance the plot in a believable well-integrated fashion. Most of the acting in "Cellular" is actually speaking into a telephone. It can't be easy to make so much dialogue phone conversations and hang the film's arc on that. Characters who are glued to a telephone conversation are isolated even in a crowd -a concept not lost on screenwriter Larry Cohen, who also wrote "Phone Booth". "Cellular" isn't a great film, but an entertaining one. You won't fall asleep!

The DVD (New Line 2005): Bonus features include 3 documentaries, an audio commentary, a theatrical trailer, and a DVD-ROM (Windows only). "Calling Out" (18 minutes) is about the history of telephones and the social implications of mobile (cellular) phones. Telecommunications engineers Dr. Martin Cooper and Joel Engel, technology journalists, and a psychologist talk about how cell phones work and what they mean for us and for the future. "Dialing Up Cellular" (25 minutes) is a documentary about making the film, including comments on the film's conception, performances, and filming the car chases. Writers Larry Cohen and Chris Morgan, director David Ellis, the cast, and various crew are interviewed. "Code of Silence: Inside the Rampart Scandal" (25 minutes) is about the 1999 police corruption scandal that involved the LAPD's Rampart Division. I found it very interesting since I am not an Angelino and was not familiar with the details of this case. The audio commentary is by director David Ellis, his sister and assistant stunt co-ordinator Annie Ellis, and his daughter and Associate Producer Tawny Ellis. Over the course of the commentary, they call various members of the film's cast and crew on their cell phones to get their comments. Subtitles are available for the film in English and Spanish.

Sometimes I watch a movie and it turns out to be far more entertaining than I thought it would be. Such is the case with CELLULAR. I had seen the ads for the film and even though it starred Kim Bassinger, I thought that the movie wasn't going to be entertaining at all. My brother had seen the movie when it came out in theatres and had enjoyed it immensely; he as especially intrigued by the "average citizen becoming a hero" angle. When I borrowed the movie from him to watch, I tried my best to put my predispositions aside and suspended my disbelief. I surprisingly found myself becoming immersed in an action-packed and suspenseful story.

CELLULAR takes places in the showy and flashy wealthy environment of Southern California. Jessica Martin (Kim Bassinger) is a high school science teacher who lives with her realtor husband and son in the L.A. suburb of Brentwood. After dropping her son off at school, Jessica's home is invaded by a gang of thugs, her housekeeper is shot, and she is kidnapped and taken hostage. The kidnappers want something her husband has and she has no idea what it is. The criminals lock her in the attic and smash the building's only phone as they plan to later kidnap both her son and her husband. Jessica must teach at a private high school because she is able to scrounge together the parts and revive them into a working telephone. She is only able to call blindly and reaches a self-absorbed, young, and immature kid named Ryan (Chris Evans) who is cruising down Venice Beach on an errand for his ex-girl friend in an attempt to win her back. At first Ryan thinks the call is a joke, but he soon becomes convinced and attempts to help Jessica as best he can. Thus begins a lengthy adventure of car chases, attempted killings, more kidnappings, uncaring salespeople, a carjacking, people playing their car stereos too loud, and crooked cops for Ryan all while trying to maintain a constant conversation with Jessica via his cell phone.

The basic concept of CELLULAR seems incredulous at first. However, it works rather well. Cell phones have become ubiquitous in our modern society (except I don't have one yet) and as far fetched as some of the events in movie seem at first, the more one thinks about the situation the more credible the idea becomes. The film's writer, Larry Cohen, also wrote the movie PHONE BOOTH. This movie tackles some of the same issues that were touched upon in that film, but fleshes them out a bit. Should Cohen decide to write another movie about communication devices it could very well be a sensation.

Perhaps another reason that CELLULAR works so well is because of the acting. Even if you have no desire to see the movie because of the concept, see the film because of Kim Bassinger and William H. Macy, who plays a good cop named Mooney who is preparing to retire from the force. Bassinger is lovely to watch and her portrayal of a kidnapped mother is convincing. Macy brings a lot of humanity and humor to a character that could have been rather dry and dull in the hands of a lesser actor. Chris Evans also does a decent job and seems to mature as an actor as his character matures as a person on screen. Some of that might be because Evans ended up doing almost all of his own stunts in the film.

Overall, I really enjoyed watching CELLULAR. It's not necessarily a great movie, but it is a good action/suspense/thriller that isn't a waster of one's time.

The DVD includes three documentaries, an audio commentary, and a trailer. I found the documentaries informative and engaging. One, "Calling Out" is on the history of telephones and how cellular phones have and are continuing to change society. "Dialing Up Cellular" is about the making of the film. "Code of Silence: Inside the Rampart Scandal" is about a 1999 LAPD corruption scandal. I hadn't heard of this case before and I found it quite interesting, especially how the writer was able to incorporate some of these events as a plotline for the film.

I want everyone who watches this movie to take a good, long, hard, look at their watch when they watch the begining of this movie.

The action kicks in exactly 3:00 minutes into the movie.

Instantly we are thrown into the kidnapping of one Jessica Martin. Some criminals are holding her hostage at an unfamiliar location in the attic of a hideaway house. If things weren't worse enough, they broke the telephone in the room. Now, using the wirese to try and get a signal, jessica reaches someone . . .just hours away.

Thankfully, this is a random person, about twenty years old who has no experience in crime-fighting and is just a pretty much regular average joe. If it was a former Navy Seal that she contacted instead of him then I wouldn't have believed it for a second.

The plot is gorgeous with random tasks and the man who is on the other end has to endure all the hasslesome problems that cell phones have: Low Battery, Weak Signal, Line crossovers, losing the phone, retrieving the phone, muting the phone, driving with the phone, etc.

but, of all the tasks, we see that he has a caring soft spot for helping people in need. this movie will have you out of your chair rooting for the average joe every step of the way.

Filled with colorful characters and good old cellular problems.

Final Verdict: Pick up the call, It's important.

Enjoy!

This is a fast paced movie from beginning to end. I think the only flaw was with the villains. I didn't find them "believable." So, either they were bad actors or badly directed. In contrast, Kim Basinger, William H. Macy, and Chris Evans were superb in their roles.

This was my first experience seeing Chris Evans in anything; that is, anything memorable for me to remember the actor. His athleticism, good looks, acting ability, and sense of humor were of five star caliber.

I felt that this was an excellent vehicle to show Kim Basinger's acting abilities beyond her roles in such popular movies as: "Batman," a James Bond thriller, and "9 and a 1/2 Weeks," etc. "Cellular" asked her to dig deep down inside herself, bringing out the true meaning of the word Actress. She was most believable.

William H. Macy once again proved there is no end to his talents. It was good to see him play a 'good guy,' unlike that which he played in "Fargo." He was excellent in his role as a radio announcer in "Seabiscuit." This time he needed to be more athletic as a cop. He did well at that, and left me with a feeling of comfort knowing he was on the job.

While not on the level of "The Interpreter" in terms of plot depth and character development, "Cellular" delivers what it says it will: a fast paced, tense thriller that will please most people. The plot is complex enough to keep the watcher guessing what exactly will happen and not bore the audience. There are a number of tense scenes that add to the overall suspense and thrill of the movie. If you're in the mood for a fast paced thriller this will not disapoint you.