THE CELL R
Starring Vince Vaughn, Vincent D'Onofrio, and Jennifer Lopez
Eric says: ****** (6)
I have got to learn to control my pre-movie hype generator. I get burned and disappointed more often than not. This is no exception.
So, we've all seen what it's like to metaphorically enter the mind of a psychopath killer, Silence of the Lambs probably being the most effective example. But what if we could literally enter the mind of one? This is the promising scenario behind The Cell. Music-video and commercial director Tarsem Singh makes his motion picture debut in this ambitious, yet ultimately unsuccessful, psychological thriller. He gathers Jennifer Lopez to portray our heroine, Catherine Deane, a ground-breaking child psychologist. We also have Vince Vaughn who somehow manages to play an eerily familiar, yet entirely non-existant FBI detective. Vincent D'Onofrio is the sicko whose mind hosts the best parts of the film.
As we begin, Ms. Deane is working on a young boy whose the victim of some sort of mental malaise. We are introduced to the concept of entry into another's mind via a special psychotropic drug. Fitted entirely in red rubber bodysuits that bring to mind sinew and muscle, the mind-melders are "wired" together while being suspended off the ground by numerous wires. The film very briefly delves into this mid-air suspension as some way to make the subjects feel more free, but it's obviously just there to add to the look, a cool one at that. We see expanse vistas of the mind played out, initially as a never-ending desert. These early scenes of the researchers are inter-cut with the intro to our serial killer and rapist, bringing to mind Buffalo Bill from the afore-mentioned Silence...Lambs. He is a seedy character prone to horrible headaches who, with the help of his well-trained albino shepherd, abducts his prey - young women - one at a time. We then see the "cell" where he houses them, a plexiglass-enclosed room that looks like a cube. The cell is eventually, intermittently flooded with water until the victim drowns. Then he really goes nuts.
Of course, that means that eventually Lopez must enter our killer's mind. The reason given is to save another potential victim. Shorlty before he is apprehended, the villian blacks out, lapsing into a schizophrenia-induced coma(?), leaving the most recent woman somewhere in the slowly-filling cell. There is, as these movies must have, a race against time to find her. (At least they skip the gratutious shot of a clock ticking.)
The absolute high point of this film is when Deane first enters the killer's mind. Some trippy visuals with a truly foreboding feel, with herky-jerky movements, monsters, an unfortunate horse, some sick psycho shit. This is when The Cell hits all the right notes, as a somber, dark, depressing, malevolant journey. Unfortunately we exit his mind almost as soon as we get there, and enter the real world. Likely, the world outside of the minds was made intentionally drab to work as a contrast, but we spend so much time there that it doesn't have enough energy to sustain us until the next mind-bending scene. And when we do get back to the mind games, for some reason, the mood is never again as fantastic or morbid as it initially was. Some scenes are even boring. And the climax is actually a big nothing. It's a shame when such promise enters a film only to fizzle out.
Lopez is serviceable as the catalyst, but never moves beyond the role - we are asked to enjoy the eye candy, and she provides it. When given the chance to show her emotions, nothing happens. Yes she is beautiful, and yes, she has a definite elegance about her movements, but a true actress, she is not, at least not yet.
Vaughn, as I stated earlier, is unbelievably flat. It feels like I have seen his character in countless movies, and he adds nothing new to his portrayal. There is one nugget of hope in his character, an allusion to his traumatic childhood, but we never get to pursue it. That could have added that all-important third dimension to the character of his Detective Novak.
As with most of this genre of movies, the bad guy can make or break the whole thing. D'Onofrio manages to pull off the feat of doing neither. While there's nothing wrong with his acting, he failed on the opportunity to single-handedly elevate the story above its mediocre level. Instead, he almost fades to the background. All the blame can't lie with him, though, as the camera was obviously meant to focus on Lopez in every scene that she was in.
That brings me to the obvious high point - the costumes and cinematography. This film certainly deserves the Academy Award this year for outstanding costumes. I truly was in awe gazing up at some of the scenes, background and foreground combining to create a fantastical dream world. The set design and costumes were married in a beautiful union of fantasy. Also kudos goes to the score, obviously influenced by Singh's Middle-Eastern background. It set the scene for not only some early beautiful shots in the desert, but later the dissonant music placed us squarely in the chaotic mind of the killer. Singh's music video background might have served him in the fantastical shots, but he definitely still has to learn how to capture the real world.
An uneven, yet sometimes astonishingly provocative mind-warping trip, The Cell should be appreciated for putting a new spin on a current genre, just don't expect too much.
David says : Mental Sequences ********** (9/10)
Real Life Sequences ********** (1/10)
Total rating ********** (3/10)
First, the good. The mental sequences, the parts where we view their thoughts intertwining, are wonderful. The costumes are outstanding, as one would expect in a depiction of how people would like to view themselves. The visual effects are beautifully done, from phychadelic mental voyages to a memorable scene of the killer with a hundreds foot long cape trailing behind. We are given extras, such as a charater mixed with the visions of victims who, with muscular arms to beat out the hulk, breasts out-enhancing any porn queen, and unmatched apparent freedom presents a curious facet into his mind; this part of the movie is almost woth seeing for itself. Except...
Except that the real life portions where so bad I didn't care about these folks anymore.
The bad. The real life scenes are obviously ment to be blander and cornier the the mental sequences. This would be ok, but we are run over repeatedly by mac trucks carrying loads of corn. We suffocate.
We are presented with the killers' methods. He kills a girl, then chemically treats her. Spooky - their are real creeps out there. But he finishes by suspending himself by chains attached to rings embedded in his flesh. Later, we're given a 15 second half-assed explanation for this behavior. Too weird - our killer is no longer realistic. The boogeyman scares kids because they believe he exists. Grown-ups are scared of muggers, rapists because they exists. Movie-goers will not be scared of our killer, his real life person is now boogeyman, not human. (please note, his terrifying appearence in the mental sequences are acceptable, because thats his preferred self intrest - just clarifying in case any of you think I'm inconsistent here...). The main characters are at best 2 dimensional, and the few attempts to make the FBI agent have even that depth - er, width - have very obviously been edited out. The acting stinks - these guys aren't even trying. Jennifer Lopez is cast for the sole reason that she has a popular body, with a half naked scene thrown is for no reason whatsoever. Hey, if I want to see a naked body just because, thats what strip joints are for. For a major movie, give me a reason (a well presented love affair with the FBI dude??)
And the worst - in real life, we are treated as complete idiots. If I, as movie goer, am treated as though my IQ was no higher than a lobotomized housefly, I'm insulted. One of the earliest scenes, Lopez in her mental sequence presses her hand. In real life, we see her pressing a contact on her hand, and the folks in the control room (who don't seem to do anything at all, but are there for show; is this a government agency?) receive signal that she's done. Very simple, very easy to understand. Somewhat later, this is explained to us (ahem - the FBI agents) - come on, we got it the first time. The movie is rampant with this crap.
So - should you see it? NO - not even if a friend is paying!!
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