The Cell (2000)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Tarsem Singh

Writer (WGA):

Mark Protosevich (written by)

Release Date:

18 August 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Fantasy | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

This Summer... Enter The Mind Of A Killer

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Serial Killer | Race Against Time | Coma | FBI | Dismemberment

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 4 wins & 18 nominations

Cast

Jennifer Lopez	...	Catherine Deane
Colton James	...	Edward Baines
Dylan Baker	...	Henry West
Marianne Jean-Baptiste	...	Dr. Miriam Kent
Gerry Becker	...	Dr. Barry Cooperman
Musetta Vander	...	Ella Baines
Patrick Bauchau	...	Lucien Baines
Vincent D'Onofrio	...	Carl Stargher
Catherine Sutherland	...	Anne Marie Vicksey
Vince Vaughn	...	Peter Novak
James Gammon	...	Teddy Lee
Jake Weber	...	Gordon Ramsey
Dean Norris	...	Cole
Tara Subkoff	...	Julia Hickson
Lauri Johnson	...	Mrs. Hickson

Also Known As:

A Cela (Brazil) [pt]
A sejt (Hungary) [hu]
Cela (Poland) [pl]
Hücre (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
La célula (Venezuela) [es]
La celda (Spain) [es]
La cellule (Canada: French title) [fr]
The Cell (France) [fr]
The Cell (Denmark) [da]
The Cell (Finland) [fi]
The cell - La cellula (Italy) [it]
The cell: La celda (Argentina) [es]
To keli (Greece) [el]

MPAA:

Rated R for bizarre violence and sexual images, nudity and language.

Runtime:

107 min | Germany:109 min (director's cut)

Country:

USA | Germany

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Brazil:16 | Malaysia:18PL (uncut version) | Malaysia:U (cut version) | Argentina:18 | Australia:MA (original rating) | Australia:R (director's cut) | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:16+ (Québec) | Canada:18A (Alberta/British Columbia) | Canada:R (Manitoba/Ontario) | Chile:18 | Denmark:15 | Finland:K-18 | France:-12 | Germany:18 | Hong Kong:IIB | Hungary:18 | Japan:R-15 | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R16 (video rating) | New Zealand:R18 (director's cut) | Norway:18 | Peru:18 | Portugal:M/16 | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R (certificate #37605) | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:M18 (DVD rating) | Singapore:R(A)

Filming Locations:

Bakersfield, California, USA

Company:

Avery Pix

Trivia:

Director Tarsem Singh asked Tara Subkoff during her interview if she could swim, to which she responded that she could and that she had been a lifeguard. It turned out that she could not go under water without holding her nose. Singh would have switched her role with Catherine Sutherland, but it was too late and there was not enough money or time to re-shoot.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: During the second filling of the cell the cameraman, and possibly the director (another person is seen next to the cameraman), can be seen in a reflection on the inside of the cell. When the camera pans to the left as Julia pounds on the glass walls and curses out her captor, you can see two figures (one with a camera) reflected in the glass.

Quotes:

Catharine Deane: Do you believe there is a part of yourself, deep inside in your mind, with things you don't want other people to see? During a session when I'm inside, I get to see those things.

Movie Connections:

References 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Soundtrack:

YOU CAN FIND THE FEELING

The least it does: looking great

'The Cell' is a journey into the mind of a serial killer and I mean this literally. The film is about the journey, about the world it shows during this journey, the destination does not really matter. In my opinion this journey through the mind gives such beautiful images other things do not really matter as long as they are not distracting. In fact, the story is pretty good.

We start with Catherine Deane (Jennifer Lopez) in the mind of a catatonic boy. How this works exactly does not really matter, but it looks a lot like virtual reality. She and other scientist including Henry West (Dylan Baker) and Miriam Kent (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) believe that this method might work. Catherine enters the mind of the boy and speaks with him there, in a world that is completely created by the boy. She hopes she can let him do things that in the end will give results.

The real story then. A serial killer named Carl (Vincent D'Onofrio) just dumped the body of one of his victims. FBI Agents Ramsey (Jake Weber) and Novak (Vince Vaughn) are on this case. Another girl (Tara Subkoff) disappears and at that time, after forensic research on the dumped body, Carl can be traced and captured. Two problems occur. 1. Carl just went into a coma; he has been sick for a long time. 2. His house and the house with his last kidnapped victim are not at the same place. In a way this part of the story is pretty standard.

Things are about to get interesting again. To find out where the girl is, Catherine has to go into Carl's mind. This is dangerous for a lot of reasons. In short: Carl is unknown territory, schizophrenic and a serial killer. If Catherine starts believing Carl's mind is the real world then her mind can convince her body; she could die in the mind of Carl. A tape of how the last victim was killed, a fate this girl will have in about twenty hours, makes sure Catherine will try to get the location out of Carl's mind.

It is the journey through this sick mind that makes this film more than worth watching. Director Tarsem Singh, who did music videos before this, in a way goes back to these music videos. Every room in the imaginative world is another short clip that exists out of beautiful and sometimes haunting images. For me the visual style felt completely new, the way 'Three Kings' had a new visual style one year earlier. If something like that can make you like a film, 'The Cell' will not disappoint. But fans of the thriller and horror genre can like this film anyway. The story itself, without the great fantasy world, is good enough for that. I think you have to be a little open minded, of course events are not (yet) possible in our real world. Still, a very entertaining film with nice ideas that looks terrific.