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| Cellular |
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  (7/10)
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Runtime: 94 |
| Public Rating: 7.75 (8 votes) |
Director: David R. Ellis |
MPAA Rating:  |
| Genre: Action/Adventure |
Year: 2004 |
| Writer(s): Larry Cohen (Story), Chris Morgan (Screenplay) |
| Distributor: New Line Cinema |
| Reviewed by: Mel Valentin |
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Audiences willing to look beyond and through Cellular'sbelievability-stretching premise (involving a cell phone, an errant phone call, multiple kidnappings, and a frat boy turned action hero), may find themselves surprised by Cellular's multiple, if formulaic, pleasures. Directed by stunt coordinator-turned-director David R. Ellis and based on a story idea by cult/exploitation auteur turned ‘high-concept’ pitchman Larry Cohen (Black Caesar, It’s Alive!, Q: The Winged Serpent, and most recently, Phone Booth), Cellular is a vigorously paced, energetically directed action/thriller of modest, ‘B’-movie aspirations, aspirations it more than meets in its brisk 90-minute running time. Audiences familiar with the generic elements present in Cellular can sit back and enjoy the utter predictability of the unfolding plot. Sometimes, being proven right, plot and character wise, can be a pleasure in and of itself.
In Cellular, Ryan (Chris Evans) receives a cell phone call from a mysterious woman, Jessica Martin (Kim Bassinger) apparently taken hostage by a group of thugs led by the singularly named Ethan (Jason Statham), becomes convinced that she’s in real danger, and rushes frantically to her rescue, setting aside his overextended adolescence for a foray into young adulthood. Ellis and his credited screenwriter Chris Morgan dive into the action quickly, barely time to establish Jessica Martin’s background (she’s a high-school biology teacher, mother, and wife to an seemingly wealthy real estate broker), before armed men break into her home (through a conveniently located glass door), kidnap her, and move her to an isolated location and house, leaving her inside a dirty, dimly lit attic with no possibility of escape, except the recently smashed phone lying on the ground (strategically left there by the kidnappers, apparently). The kidnappers claim Jessica’s husband has something of vital importance to them. The identity of this object, of course, is intimately tied to the identities of the kidnappers themselves (to say more would be to spoil one of the film’s minor pleasures). Putting her science background into use, Jessica reconfigures the wiring in the smashed phone to make an outside call.
Unfortunately, she contacts Cellular's hero/protagonist, the singularly named Ryan. Giving characters family names was probably considered superfluous by Morgan and the film’s producers. The audience is in 'broad strokes' (to define characters) territory here. Ryan is typed as egotistical, callow, and vain (he’s shirtless in his first scene). If his shallowness isn’t sufficiently clear, the screenwriter helpfully has Ryan’s ex-girlfriend, Chloe (Jessica Biel), describe him as "irresponsible, self-centered, and childish" (to reiterate this point for a possibly dozing member of the audience, Ryan plays back a video recording of Chloe’s remarks moments later on his high-tech cell phone). On his way to an unrelated errand, Ryan is derailed by the phone call from Jessica Martin. Disbelief turns to (instant) action, and Ryan’s decides to play Good Samaritan (by taking the phone to a nearby police station). Credible? Not particularly, especially not after our brief introduction to Ryan gives next to no indication of his potential for change. More likely, Ryan would take the path of least resistance, and hang up the phone call. But without Ryan's decision to help the stranger at the other end of the phone, there'd be no film.
At the station, Ryan meets the soon-to-retire (the unoriginally named) Sergeant Mooney (William H. Macy). Mooney has ambitions of opening a day spa with his wife. Again, think 'broad strokes.' Audiences apparently need look no further to guess that the mild-mannered, henpecked sergeant will function as much-needed comic relief. Hint: he does. Ryan encounters the first of several obstacles that draw him deeper into taking an active role in saving Jessica from her thuggish kidnappers: the cell phone’s signal fades inside the police building. The race is on, more or less, through the streets and freeways of Los Angeles to retrieve an object (or a person) ahead of the kidnappers. Given the generic nature of the plot (and the need to pad out the running time), Ryan must fail multiple times before he can succeed, following the pattern of the two CCs and the two RRs (conflict, complication, reversal, and resolution). Of course, the cell phone has hazards of its own: from the previously mentioned fading signal, to a low-battery problem, and a mixed signal problem, which forces Ryan to kidnap an overweening, unctuous attorney’s brand new Porsche not once, but twice in the course of the film. The attorney is only one of many caricatures running rampant in Cellular. The audience is treated (if treated is the right word) to Los Angeles’ multitude of (stereotypical) nuisances, including the obnoxious lawyer, recurring, inconvenient, car jams, and detours through a city under permanent construction (which allows for some smoothly executed stunt work and cleanly photographed and edited action scenes).
The two plotlines, Jessica attempting to escape her kidnappers, Ryan attempting to rescue her, converge in the aforementioned object of desire. Ryan, of course, quickly matures into a heroic, unselfish character, but to Cellular’s credit, he doesn’t automatically have (or magically develop) the physical skills to match the kidnappers, who appear to be highly trained, and highly motivated, professionals. Instead, a secondary character reappears in the third act to play a pivotal role. Ryan proves himself primarily by his willingness to risk himself (i.e., his character arc or growth curve) and by his improvisatory skills. After all, characters are defined by the choices they make (audiences can decide for themselves if the requisite character arc is sufficiently credible and engaging on an emotional level). Cellular is one ‘B’-movie worth seeing and, of course, enjoying. It may not be intellectually challenging or especially memorable, but few will (or can) argue with Cellular’s entertainment value.
© Mel Valentin, 24thJanuary, 2005
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