Kim Bassinger plays a high school science teacher named Jessica
Martin who sees her young son off to school early one morning. She returns home
to get ready for work--until her day is disrupted by the arrival of several armed
men who burst into her home, kill her housekeeper, and abduct her. She is
thrown into a van and taken to a house, where she is stashed in the attic. One
of the kidnappers smashes the landline phone before leaving Jessica locked alone
in the attic. However, despite the fact that she is a hostage who has no idea
why she was abducted in the first place, Jessica keeps her cool and manages to
rebuild the telephone to the point where she can make a call.
Meanwhile, a twenty something dude named Ryan (Chris Evans) is chilling on the
Southern California boardwalk, hanging out with his buddy, and trying desperately
to get back with his estranged girlfriend. When he answers his cell phone, he
gets a hysterical woman who claims to have been kidnapped and stashed in an attic
somewhere, but she doesn't know where. At first Ryan thinks the call is a prank,
until he comes to the sobering realization that Jessica is indeed in desperate
straits and needs his help to stay alive. Ryan proceeds to move heaven and earth
in trying to get help for Jessica--but most important of all, he can't lose this
cell signal, or else Jessica's one lifeline to the world will be cut off. But
time is running out, as is Ryan's cell phone battery.
Winningly directed by David R. Ellis, Cellular is a marvelous thriller that is
unrelenting in its nail biting suspense. We literally race all over Southern
California with Ryan as he tries to maintain his tenuous link with Jessica while
dodging the kidnappers at the same time. The movie is exhilarating in its
breathless, non-stop pace--as well as being very funny, all while maintaining its
intelligent storyline. Kim Bassinger is wonderful as Jessica, a regular woman
who is caught up in extraordinary events and, in spite of her terror, rises to
meet the challenge. Her chemistry with Evans is fantastic, especially when you
consider they spend most of the film's running time separated from one another,
only hearing each other's voice on a static-filled cell phone line. William H.
Macy is also very good as Mooney, an LAPD desk sergeant who inadvertently gets
caught up in this nerve-wracking deadly cat and mouse game between Ryan and the kidnappers. And Jason
Statham is also superb as the ruthless leader of the band of kidnappers.
The special features on the DVD include an audio commentary by the director,
along with writers Larry Cohen and Chris Morgan. There's also a selection of
deleted/alternate scenes, and a group of excellent documentaries, as well as the
Cellular theatrical trailer, and trailers for other New Line movies. There is
also DVD-ROM and online content offered, but the InterActual Player is required
on your PC. So if you're looking for a great thriller, ring up Cellular. It
won't leave you on hold. --SF
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