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Cellular Movie Review - Buy Movies - Rent MoviesThis is a movie the Orange Film Commission Board (from those silly adverts) would be proud of; a mobile phone (sorry cell phone) being the star of the movie. It was right underneath their noses and they didn’t even think to use it on their adverts.
Good thinking David R. Ellis; as a self appointed honorary member of the Orange Film Commission Board you can have a trilogy of movies… as long as the mobile phone is the star! Jessica Martin (Kim Basinger) has her world torn to shreds when she is kidnapped by a ruthless gang of thugs (led by Jason Statham) for no obvious reason. A broken landline phone with a weak connection is the only object that can save her life. After a lot of fiddling with telephone wires, Jessica manages by a strange twist of fate to ring Ryan (Chris Evans); who is the “irresponsible, self-centred, childish” lad who has to save her life with his Nokia 6600. As he is dragged further into this dark state of affairs, Ryan has to try to save her son and husband whilst avoiding arrest from the authorities due to the urgency of the situation.
Can Ryan keep the contact with Jessica going? Well he has a little bit of help from Mooney (William H. Macy). He plays a cop who’s about to leave the force after 27 years to open a beauty salon - sorry - day spa, and manages to get involved (by another case of coincidence) in the Jessica Martin case. He unwittingly gets drawn in to this sinister situation and finds himself fighting to stay alive along with Ryan and the Martin family.
Kim Basinger in her first major role since 8 mile puts in an adequate performance… as we know she can. In all honesty, this role does not really push her to her limits. The same can be said about Chris Evans. Sure it seems that he is enjoying himself and Evans ‘the actor’ should be allowed to but Ryan ‘the role’ should not be permitted to - that’s part of the problem. Sure he’s an immature college boy but his character seems to be enjoying the chance to play hero when someone’s life is danger. On the other hand his performance is energetic and very lively. Jason Statham (Ethan) looks the part and comes across convincingly as a hard nut. You really would not want to meet this guy in a dark alley. However even though he puts in a good performance as the baddie, his acting ability is not tested to any great lengths. Then we have the always excellent William H. Macy who, albeit has a significant role, is actually wasted and reduced to a bit part in this movie which is very frustrating. He does, nevertheless, put in an enjoyable performance - especially when experimenting with his live algea face mask. In spite of this these actors do the best they can because there is, to a certain extent, a lack of intensity, emotion and development to the characters portrayed in this picture.
David R. Ellis’s direction is sporadic. Superb in some parts and very ordinary in others. For example the bleaker aspects of this movie are very well shot and executed but unfortunately this does not consistently synchronise with the depth (or lack of depth) to the characters. This maybe due to his lack of experience as a director. Sure this former stuntman/stunt co-ordinator and second unit director has been involved in plenty of films but this being his third feature at the helm shows that he has a lot to learn. He will, however, get better as he accrues more directing projects.
Another negative aspect to this movie is when our hero starts to call the shots towards the end. From here it becomes very predictable and has been seen in plenty of films before. (Of which will not be mentioned so as to keep away from spoilers.) There are however very good attributes that do make this movie work. For example keeping Evans and the action on the move culminating in some very good tension filled moments. To add to this our hero comes up against a lot of obstacles which does add to the excitement of the film coupled with the way he deals with these situations. (Even though some are slightly comedic!) Music, unfortunately for Ellis, does not seem to play a large part in storytelling as it does in a Tarantino or Mann film (this may be harsh because the formers are extremely talented and it is really unfair to draw a comparison) but a good soundtrack can make all the difference to a movie. A club/house mix of Nina Simone’s Sinnerman is the most memorable track in this film but on the whole we have a very mediocre soundtrack.
There have been a lot of negatives mentioned but all in all this is actually a good movie. The disappointing soundtrack, lack of character depth, some badly placed comedic moments and patchy direction does not help this movie. On the contrary the one positive this film does have going for it are the periods of darkness and grittiness that rears it head every so often. If this picture concentrated on those darker aspects together with better character development we could have had one hell of a movie.
This is no “Man On Fire” but it is enjoyable nevertheless. There is no complexity involved or any pretentiousness. If your looking for a super intelligent movie with moralistic meanings and philosophy then stay well away and play snake on your mobile phone but if you want an entertaining no-brainer movie with a simple plot then turn off your phone and enjoy.
By the way, the trilogy of movies comment was a joke!
Leon Nicholson
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