R E V I E W S

Cell, The (2000)

Starring: Jennifer Lopez, Vincent D'Onofrio, Vince Vaughn
Director: Tarsem Singh
Rating: R

Studio: Warner Bros.

Review Posted: 4.21.01

Rating: 3/4

By Dan Peters.

I was having a hard time deciding what to make of The Cell. The movie is visually captivating but the acting is below average and any scenes out of the killer's mind are dull. But the movie is very original and is entertaining most of the time. So where did I lean towards? The negative end or the positive end?

Like I said, the whole plot is original. Singer/actress Jennifer Lopez is Catherine Deane, a child psychotherapist. Two other scientists (Marianne Jean-Baptiste and Dylan Baker) and her having been working with a young boy in a coma. But if the boy is in a coma, how can they be working with him?

That's where this new technology comes in. After a short process, someone can enter another's mind and communicate with them. The FBI learns about this new technology and wants someone to enter the mind of a serial killer named Carl Stargher (Vincent D'Onofrio) of whom the FBI has recently captured. Stargher has killed seven people and recently got an eighth person and put her in a cell. In 40 hours, the cell will fill with water and she will drown.

So Catherine volunteers to enter the killer's dark and twisted mind. And there, she has to gain the trust of Stargher and learn where the the eighth victim is being held.

What really makes the film work is the amazing photography blended in with computer visuals. The Cell is the first film to do anything like this near as good since 1998's What Dreams May Come. An example of all this includes the background of the mind, it really makes the atmosphere dark and twisted.

If the film would've just stayed in the killer's mind for all the running time, this would've easily gotten three and a half stars (and a place in my top five list). All those scenes are dull, and the poor script sure doesn't help it a whole lot.

Performance-wise, the film is below average. Jennifer Lopez (last seen in 1999's Thieves) has a lot of talent but just doesn't show all of it here. Vicent D'Onofrio (last seen in 2000's Steal This Movie!) isn't that good as the serial killer, but I guess there wasn't much for him to do. Vince Vaughn (Norman Bates in Gus Van Sant's Psycho remake) plays an FBI agent here and is also not given much to do.

Overall, The Cell is an entertaining ride through a killer's mind. If the script was worked on a little more and we had better acting from the leads, we would've had a great film here. But still, The Cell is an entertaining art film that is recommended for people that are not squeamish.

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