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Cellular
Reach out, reach out and touch someone.

Starring: Chris Evans, Kim Basinger, William H. Macy, Jason Statham, Jessica Biel, Noah Emmerich, Dat Phan
Director: David R. Ellis
Screenwriters: Larry Cohen, Christopher Morgan

Reviewed by Chris Ching

Keanu Size Whoa!

I expected Cellular to be as fun as listening to somebody else's cell phone conversation, but it surprised me with some genuine suspenseful moments. Sure, I knew the hero was going to save the day, but I still wanted to see how he got there.

The hero in question is Ryan, a typical So-Cal surfer dude played by Tom Cruise lookalike Chris Evans. It's noteworthy to point out the similar facial DNA Evans shares with Cruise, since Cellular is essentially a Tom Cruise style movie - cocky guy learns a life lesson and becomes a better member of society in the process. The process in Cellular puts Evans in the hot seat when he receives a call from kidnapped Jessica Martin (Kim Basinger). At first dismissing her pleas as a prank, Ryan proceeds to jump through a series of increasingly more difficult hoops to save Jessica and her family with his cell phone being the only link between them.

The beginning of Cellular is a little sketchy since it's hard to picture Ryan giving a s**t about this wacky chick on the other end of the line. By the midpoint though, you'll be suspending reality (hey the script certainly does!) and the last half cruises along nicely - no pun intended. With maybe a little tighter ending, Cellular could have registered as a minor classic. Where it stands now, it's kinda like a phone conversation. While it's happening you're engrossed, but once it's over, it's a a quickly fading memory.

Chris Evan does a fair job of his role as Everyman, but lacks the unpredictability of a Tom Cruise. He was much more effective in Not Another Teen Movie where he showed a deft hand at comedy. Incidentally his Not Another co-star Eric Christian Olsen appears here as Ryan's babe chasing bud Chad which begs one to ask, "Was their previous collaboration so classic it warranted another team-up?"

While it's sacrilege to mention the two movies in the same sentence, Cellular is Kim Basinger's best performance since winning the Academy Award for LA Confidential. She has to emote a couple of fairly retarded lines, but is believable as a woman going through the ringer.

Also adding depth to the movie is William H. Macy as a cop on the brink of retirement. The script's quirky take on his character Mooney allows Macy a role to sink his acting chops in. On the complete opposite end of the spectrum is an appearance by Last Comic Standing winner Dat Phan who cameos as the type of stereotypical asian he normally rallies against in his act. Congratulations Dat, you frickin' sellout!

In closing, I'd just like to give a big f**k you to my fellow theatre goers who were still on their cell phones as the movie got underway. Hopefully Jessica Martin will add you to her phonebook soon.

Rating:

(2 out of 4 stars)

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