Cellular (2004)

Genres

Action, Crime, Thriller

Director

David R. Ellis

Country

USA

Cast

Kim Basinger, Chris Evans, Jason Statham, William H. Macy, Noah Emmerich, Richard Burgi, Valerie Cruz, Eric Christian Olsen, Jessica Biel, Adam Taylor Gordon, Caroline Aaron, Matt McColm, Eric Etabari, Brendan Kelly, Rick Hoffman

Storyline

A young man (Chris Evans) receives a call on his cell phone from a woman (Kim Basinger) who claims to have been kidnapped and that her husband (Richard Burgi) and son (Adam Taylor Gordon) are the next targets and he soon gets way more than he bargained for.

Opinion

I added Cellular on my watchlist a long time ago but never bothered watching it because there's Jason Statham and I thought it'd be a pretty loud action flick. That, however, was not the case. Although it's far from being great, this film still is a quite tense and entertaining thriller.

The plot is simple and really nothing new - it's basically a cheaper version of Joel Schumacher's Phone Booth which is a way better movie to be honest -, there are many holes but surprisingly there are some convincing and nice twists.

The characters aren't that good either. They are pretty shallow, one-dimensional and clichéed, and some actors probably weren't the right choice. While Chris Evans fits well the self-centred guy and same goes for Kim Basinger and her distraught mother - and by the way, she gives a pretty good performance all considering -, Jason Statham just isn't the right pick to play the villain mainly because he looks bored most of the time.

What really does the trick here is the direction. Ellis delivers a fast-paced action flick that manages to build some tension and suspense, and that it's able to engage you and keep you glued to the screen from beginning to end. Sure, it's not a masterpiece and it's rather forgettable, but a good film to switch off the brain for a little.