The Cell (2000)

Director:

Tarsem Singh

Writer (WGA):

Mark Protosevich (written by)

Release Date:

18 August 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Fantasy | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

This Summer... Enter The Mind Of A Killer

Plot:

A psychotherapist journeys inside a comatose serial killer in the hopes of saving his latest victim.

Plot Keywords:

Serial Killer | Race Against Time | FBI | Coma | Child Abuse

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 4 wins & 18 nominations

Cast

Jennifer Lopez	...	Catherine Deane
Colton James	...	Edward Baines
Dylan Baker	...	Henry West
Marianne Jean-Baptiste	...	Dr. Miriam Kent
Gerry Becker	...	Dr. Barry Cooperman
Musetta Vander	...	Ella Baines
Patrick Bauchau	...	Lucien Baines
Vincent D'Onofrio	...	Carl Stargher
Catherine Sutherland	...	Anne Marie Vicksey
Vince Vaughn	...	Peter Novak
James Gammon	...	Teddy Lee
Jake Weber	...	Gordon Ramsey
Dean Norris	...	Cole
Tara Subkoff	...	Julia Hickson
Lauri Johnson	...	Mrs. Hickson

MPAA:

Rated R for bizarre violence and sexual images, nudity and language.

Runtime:

107 min | Germany:109 min (director's cut)

Country:

USA | Germany

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Brazil:16 | Malaysia:18PL (uncut version) | Malaysia:U (cut version) | Argentina:18 | Australia:MA (original rating) | Australia:R (director's cut) | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:16+ (Québec) | Canada:18A (Alberta/British Columbia) | Canada:R (Manitoba/Ontario) | Chile:18 | Denmark:15 | Finland:K-18 | France:-12 | Germany:18 | Hong Kong:IIB | Hungary:18 | Japan:R-15 | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R16 (video rating) | New Zealand:R18 (director's cut) | Norway:18 | Peru:18 | Portugal:M/16 | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R (certificate #37605) | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:M18 (DVD rating) | Singapore:R(A)

Filming Locations:

Bakersfield, California, USA

Company:

Avery Pix

Trivia:

The scene where Peter Novak first enters the mind of Carl Stargher, and is confronted by three females with open mouths to the sky is based on the painting "Dawn" by Norwegian painter Odd Nerdrum.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Catherine brings Carl into her mind, she fights Carl's evil self. When she is on top of him, punching him, her last punch is thrown with her left hand. When we see the punch hitting evil Carl, he is being hit with her right hand.

Quotes:

Carl Stargher: And what world do you live in?

Movie Connections:

References Bloodlust! (1961)

Soundtrack:

YOU CAN FIND THE FEELING

You ain't seen nothing yet...

I've said before that some films are like `nothing you have ever seen before'. Well, The Cell takes that saying and burns it down, blows it up and drowns it. This movie is something you could and can be only imagined. And if you then told someone about it they'd have you locked up for a very long time. It could be categorized as a Sci-fi thriller and then as a serial killer film. Like Seven and Silence of the Lambs this is not the ordinary serial killer film. It stands on it's own as a new kind of thriller.

Jennifer Lopez stars as Catherine Deane, the best psychotherapist in the business. She works for a company who has developed the latest technology in therapy. She has the ability to go inside the mind of anyone and find out the reasoning to his or her distress. Enter Peter Novak (Vince Vaughn), a FBI agent tracking down a very sick serial killer Carl Stargher (Vincent D'Onofrio), who drowns his victims then dresses them up like dolls. On a FBI raid of his home Stargher goes into a coma and the whereabouts of his next victim are unknown. So Deane takes the job of going into his mind to find out where the victim is being held. And that's when this film gets intense, seriously intense.

The director Tarsem Singh, known for the award winning R.E.M. video `Losing my Religion', blows away everything you could have imagined. The dream sequences are beautifully shot with many camera tricks, creepy color distribution, graphic images, and a tense score. They are extremely trippy and surreal. They actually have a dream feel because anything goes and there are no rules. Lopez performance is as good as she looks. She nails the psychotherapist dead on and does a great job in showing the different aspects of her character. Vince is Vince, very cool, very low key, and very real. D'Onofrio will scare you. His Carl Stargher would make even Hannibal Lecter scream for mommy. This guy is more disturbed than ever imagined. He has to be seen to believe it.

Tarsem, with this film, has become one of my favorite directors and I will go see any film with his name on it. The Cell can only be described as a Sci-fi serial killer thriller that's visually disturbing, creepy, and one of the wildest films ever. It runs along the line with Seven for a good serial killer film and Event Horizon for a graphically sick and twisted film. This is best summer movie and the best film I've seen all year.