The Cell

STAR RATING

INFO

Year: 2000
Running Lenght: 1:45
Rated: R
Genre: sci-fi/thriller

Cast: Jennifer Lopez, Vince Vaughn, Vincent D'Onofrio
Director: Tarsem Singh
Written by: Mark Protosevich

PLOT

A psychotherapist journeys inside the mind of a serial killer in the hopes of saving his latest victim.

REVIEW

You know something is wrong when you give your second favorite movie of the year only 3 and a half stars. No need to say it has been a terrible year for movies. So far 2000 has an endless supply of crappy movies, most of which I was fortunate enough to miss, but others like Supernova, Reindeer Games, Titan A.E. and Drowning Mona I wasn't spared of.

Hollow Man being the last movie I saw before The Cell, I was really hoping for something different and original this time. I was not disappointed.

The Cell is the most original movie of the year. You can compare it to other films but you can not deny it's something new, something you have never seen before.

In a way, The Cell is this year's Matrix. It's new, fresh, imaginative and visually striking. But while The Matrix was an action/adventure movie, The Cell is more of a thriller or even drama.

A lot has been said about this movie's visuals, which are spectacular, but not much has been said about it's script. That might give you the impression that the script is weak, which it is not, not at all.

The plot is really interesting, and the dialogue is well-written and competent. There are no corny lines or huge plot holes. The Cell is a movie that does not relly on special effects and fantastic visuals to enetertain you,
like the aforementioned Hollow Man. It makes you think, and it makes you care about the movie's characters.

What surprised me about this movie is that Jennifer Lopez was actually very convincing as a child psychiatrist. She was very good as was Vincent D'Onofrio who didn't have many lines but did very well with the ones he had. Vince Vaughn gave a decent performance though I think he was miscast as FBI agent Peter Novak.

Kudos to director Tarsem Singh without whom this movie would have not been nearly as good as it was. His imaginative direction takes The Cell to a whole new level.

Overall, The Cell is a great movie. It's my second favorite movie of the year, after Gladiator. Having said that, I don't think The Cell is the greatest thing since sliced bread. It's been a weak year for film, The Cell is one of the very few exceptions.

written by Dani Koev

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