Cellular (2004)

Director:

David R. Ellis

Writers (WGA):

Larry Cohen (story)
Chris Morgan (screenplay)

Release Date:

10 September 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Thriller

Tagline:

If the signal dies so does she.

Plot:

A young man receives an emergency phone call on his cell phone from an older woman. The catch? The woman claims to have been kidnapped; and the kidnappers have targeted her husband and child next.

Plot Keywords:

Cell Phone | Family In Danger | Fishbowl | Conspiracy | Mother Son Relationship

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Caroline Aaron	...	Marilyn Mooney
Brenda Ballard	...	Irate Customer #1
Kim Basinger	...	Jessica Martin
Will Beinbrink	...	Young Security Guard
Jessica Biel	...	Chloe
Chase Bloch	...	Timid Boy
Chelsea Bloch	...	Surf Girl's Friend
Chantille Boudousque	...	Chloe's Chilly Friend
Robin Brenner	...	Excitable Customer
Richard Burgi	...	Craig Martin
Paige Cannon	...	Girl at Concert
Nikki Christian	...	Porsche Girl
John Churchill	...	Young Guard
Greg Collins	...	Aging Security Guard
Valerie Cruz	...	Dana Bayback

Also Known As:

Final Call - Wenn er auflegt, muss sie sterben (Germany) (DVD title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for violence, terror situations, language and some sexual references.

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

USA | Germany

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Brazil:14 | Malaysia:U | Netherlands:12 (TV rating) | Denmark:11 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | South Korea:15 | Sweden:15 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Finland:K-15 | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:IIA | Netherlands:16 | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:PG | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:PG-13 (certificate #41056)

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles Center Studios - 450 S. Bixel Street, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

New Line Cinema

Trivia:

This film was set to be Dean Devlin's directorial debut, but he decided to produce instead.

Goofs:

Factual errors: When the shooting occurs at the Santa Monica Pier, the responding officers are from the LAPD. Since the pier is within the Santa Monica city limits, the correct responding agency would be the Santa Monica Police Department, not the LAPD.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Ricky Martin: Mom, will you still be a science teacher when I get into high school?
Jessica Martin: Hmm... You never know. Why?
Ricky Martin: 'Cause I think it'd be kind of weird to have your mom as a teacher.

Movie Connections:

References The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

Soundtrack:

Sinnerman

"Cellular" Division

"Cellular" has the setup for a solid straight-ahead thriller: A kidnap victim who does not know where she is being held phones a total stranger who must then stay connected on his cell phone to find her before she is killed. Joel Schumacher scored earlier with a similarly phone-themed Larry Cohen story, "Phone Booth." As executed by tone-deaf director David R. Ellis, however, "Cellular" becomes an unintentionally hilarious cousin to Brian de Palma's "Raising Cain" and "Snake Eyes."

Ellis seems to have unwittingly spliced together two different films with mismatched tones: Kim Basinger as the kidnapee and Jason Statham as the kidnapper occupy the deadly-serious, straight-to-video thriller half, while Chris Evans as the rescuer and William H. Macy as a police officer seem to be in a "Saturday Night Live"-alum action comedy. Nowhere else is the disjointedness in tone more apparent than when Basinger and Evans's performances are placed side-by-side during their conversations: The scenes keep cutting between an overwrought Basinger wringing out every drop of melodrama, while a blissfully inept Evans seems to be channeling a cross between Chris Kattan/Jimmy Fallon and Ben Affleck/Keanu Reeves.

Meanwhile, Ellis pulls out tricks intended to generate thrills and surprises. He throws in out-of-nowhere "shocks," a la "Final Destination"; he throws in flashbacks; he throws in a gun-blazing Macy in Jerry Bruckheimer action-hero slo-mo; and yet, Ellis has no handle on staging any of them competently. Case in point: "Cellular" is the proud owner of one of the most ineptly scored chase sequences ever, as if Ellis simply heard a snippet of the song's lyrics ("...where you gonna run to?") literally and paid no attention to the inappropriateness of the accompanying music (which just bop, bop, bops along). (The song is even reprised during the closing credits, which itself is misbegotten in conception.)

And yet, for all of its failures as art, "Cellular" is always entertaining for those very same faults.