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Review
Archives
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Today's
Date is:
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The
Cell
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Reviewed
by: |
David
Litton |
| Genre: |
sci-fi thriller |
| Video: |
2.35:1
anamorphic widescreen |
| Audio: |
Dolby Digital
5.1 and 2.0 |
| Language: |
English |
| Subtitle: |
English |
| Length: |
1
hr, 47 min |
| Rating: |
R |
| Release
Date: |
11-21-00
|
| Studio: |
New
Line CInema |
| Commentary:
|
one
with director Tarsem Singh, another with the film's production
team |
| Documentaries:
|
"Style
as Substance" reflections on the director |
| Featurettes:
|
Visual
Effects Vignettes |
| Filmography/Biography:
|
Yes
|
|
Interviews: |
No |
| Trailers/TV
Spots: |
Yes |
| Alternate/Deleted
Scenes: |
Yes |
| Music
Video: |
No |
| Other:
|
interactive
brain map and empathy test |
| Cast
and Crew: |
Jennifer
Lopez, Vince Vaughn, Vincent D'Onofrio, Marianne Jean-Baptiste,
Jake Weber, Dylan Baker |
| Screenplay
by: |
Mark Protosevich |
| Produced
by: |
Julio Caro, Eric McLeod |
| Directed
By: |
Tarsem Singh |
| Music: |
Howard Shore |
| The
Review: |
Enter
into the mind of a serial killer, and you'll find that you have
stepped into another world, one beyond that of any sane imagination.
This is exactly the treatment you will receive with "The Cell,"
New Line Cinema's best release since the thriller "Seven." There
have been so many movies I've seen that indulge in special effects
to tell their stories, but never has there been one that is
more surreal and phantasmagoric than this one, which will certainly
give audiences their share of scares, thrills, and mind-playing
tricks that make this movie one of the most intelligent and
intense cinematic experiences ever put to film. The movie opens
with a woman in a white flowing gown walking through a somewhat
sinister desert until she reaches a small boy in a clearing
of dead trees. After a small talk with the boy, Catherine soon
transports herself back into her own mind, and back into reality,
where she is a child therapist who uses an experimental process
to pry into the psyche of children in order to free them of
their inner torments. "Do you believe there's a part of yourself
that you don't show anybody?" she asks someone during the course
of the movie. "When I'm inside, I get to see those things."
The process is only under experiment, invented by the parents
of the boy whose mind Catherine enters into. Meanwhile, detectives
stumble upon the recent victim of serial killer Carl Stargher,
who keeps his victims inside a small cell which begins to fill
up with water after forty hours, drowning the woman inside.
He then bleaches the body and makes it up to look like a porcelain
doll, all the while suspending himself in the air from steel
rings in the skin of his back. The police soon find enough evidence
to locate him, though only after he claims another woman and
locks her away, starting the inevitable countdown to her final
doom. When the police arrest Stargher, they find him in a comatose
state due to a severe case of schizophrenia, and when they realize
that they have no other choice, they transport him to the facility
and ask Catherine to enter into his mind in order to discover
the whereabouts of the latest victim before time runs out. With
a slight hesitation, Catherine agrees, and soon the process
begins with heightened intensity. This is the point at which
the film begins to accelerate into an intense charybdis of the
surreal, the supernatural, and the totally insane. With Catherine,
we are transported into an extraordinarily frightening world
that is full of macabre images, mysterious and inexplicable
occurences, sudden changes in scenery and atmosphere, and an
overall sense of darkness, dampness and filth. As we are taken
into Stargher's mind, we are allowed to see what permeates through
his subconscious, as well as the events that lead up to his
crimes. All of this is nothing short of astounding and totally
involving filmmaking that will wrap you up in a gossamer blanket
of decay and the unknown. While most critics uphold the notion
that there is no emotion or feeling within the story, I feel
that there is a balance between the visual imagery and the plot.
The suspense for this thriller is, for the most part, very original
in the way the killer's victims are treated, and while most
movies would not do this, "The Cell" chooses to create an immense
amount of sympathy for the killer as Catherine meets him in
his own mind. Her view of his life as a child allows for the
audience to feel sorrow for his character, and to understand,
to a small degree, the reasons for his murderous actions. I
applaud the filmmakers for taking such a risky approach and
being able to make it work. The film also hosts some of the
finest acting I've seen in years in a film like this. Jennifer
Lopez does a fantastic job as Catherine Deane, proving that
her acting is stable and quite enjoyable. The intensity and
depth of her performance are ranked with such actresses as Annette
Bening's work on "In Dreams," and Ashley Judd's performance
in "Kiss The Girls." Vince Vaughn plays Peter Novak, the detective
who discovers Stargher, and later enters into his mind as well
in order to rescue Catherine from her prison. His character
is pretty much mid-caliber, but even at that level, he stills
delivers a stellar performance that keeps the movie moving in
key scenes. And then comes the ever-creepy Vincent D'Onofrio,
who never fails to dazzle the camera with ultra-freaky glances,
actions and moments of total insanity. After watching this movie,
try imagining someone else in his place with the role of Carl
Stargher; you won't be able to do it. For all of its creative
genius, "The Cell" receives two and a half stars from me. For
the emotion that it is able to evoke through the characters
it portrays, it receives the final one and a half stars needed
to make it perfect. There really has never been a better film
that combines the supernatural and surreal with a believable
story and likeable acting. I think that it would be a shame
to pass up this delightful yet very haunting movie experience;
maybe Oscar will get it right this time and at least nominate
this one for something. -- |
| Image
and Sound |
This is
a superb DVD, though nothing new to New Line Cinema. The image
quality is bursting with colors and dull hues, all conveying
a very cold, very moldy atmosphere which is intrical to the
movie's overall effect. No noise or artifacts are visible. The
sound quality is if a quiescent nature in many scenes of conversation,
though when the intensity kicks in, deep bass is powerful and
the surrounds are magnificently used for Howard Shore's enigmatic
score. A pleasing DVD picture and sound experience. -- |
| The
Extras |
The deleted
scenes give you a choice of whether or not you would like director's
commentary with them as they play. Either way, they are easily
self-explained as to their importance to the movie, so the only
real reason for the commentary is to let you know why they were
cut out. The original documentary, "Style as Substance," hosts
interviews with several of "The Cell's" collaborators and team
members, all of whom reflect on their experiences with Tarsem
Singh in the making of this movie. The visual effects vignettes
are six separate small special features, which include an added
bonus of choosing to view each one in three different viewpoints,
all of which go into the creation of the special effects scene
by important scene. Theatrical trailers and filmographies are
also included. It's the brain map and empathy test that steals
the show. The brain map is a complex diagram of the many parts
of the brain, and what types of feelings are triggered where.
The empathy test asks you many questions in order to determine
your level of empathy. The DVD-ROM features include a script
of the movie, the original theatrical website, a playable demo
of a game, and the ability to play the movie on your PC! A deluge
of delights and surprises for this movie! -- |
| Commentary |
To be quite
honest, with films like this, I tend to want more of an explanatory
commentary track from the author that details the production
and some of the more technical aspects of the making of the
film. With "The Cell," director Tarsem Singh finds it more appropriate
to poke fun at his film than to discuss these details, and most
of the running commentary is nothing but his little jokes about
certain aspects of the plot and filming. This proved to be very
disappointing, and while he does help us out with some of the
more complicated plotlines, he proves to be nothing more than
an aspiring comedian. The production team's commentary features
voice-overs from director of photography Paul Laufer, production
designer Tom Foden, make-up supervisor Michelle Burke, costume
designer April Napier, visual effects supervisor Kevin Haug,
and composer Howard Shore. This is not only the first commentary
to have so many people on it, but it goes over so many of the
film's important designs and technicalities. Everything about
it gets covered at one point or another, making this the definitive
commentary of this DVD. -- |
| Final
Words: |
"The Cell"
is more than just the standard special effects and eye candy
that many critics have touted it as. It's more than just popping
colors and strange noises: it's about the fight to save a soul
that has gone past the point of redemption. It's about one woman's
struggle to save that small boy that still resides within the
man. The movie is a stunning and breathtaking experience, and
is quite original. |
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