Weekly Movie Rec: Cellular
So the point of this feature is to recommend to you a film that you might not otherwise check out, but is probably not a well respected classic like most titles you’ve heard of. So far, many of you have been fans of the films I’ve recommended, which is great, but I’m going to try and push the limits here.
Any love for Cellular out there? To me it seemed like the ultimate throwaway flick, but I was intrigued by its cast of Chris Evans, Jason Statham and William H. Macy so I gave it a go. The film is directed by stuntman turned B-movie director David R. Ellis, also responsible for Snakes on a Plane and two Final Destination movies. This should be good.
The film follows a woman (Kim Basinger) kidnapped by a man (Jason Statham) for reasons I can’t quite remember at the moment. Money, presumably. After she tries to reach a nearby phone, he smashes it to pieces, and she is forced to randomly cross wires until she can reach just one random number, that of Chris Evans’ cell phone. She must convince him that she’s actually in danger, and once she does, Evans has to figure out how the hell to help her.
You have to admit it’s kind of a cool concept for a film, and it’s surprisingly good in execution. It won’t win any awards, but I’ll be damned if it didn’t have me on the edge of my seat throughout. The non-stop action plotline reminded me of a film like Crank, where the action CAN’T ever slow down due to the premise. Cellular isn’t exactly a classic by any means, but I think it’s a damn decent action flick if you’re in the right mood.
Crank is fuckin amazing, Cellular was so-so.
Yeah dude. I remember that film, it wasn’t terrible. Chris Evans is the king of films that sound kinda rubbish but are actually pretty cool. Like Push…Thats the only film I can think of that fits this bill.
It’s been a long time, but I seem to remember thinking that Cellular couldn’t ever decide on a tone. I have memories of it veering back and forth between semi-brutal violence and pretty conventional comedy.
Yeah, Push, that was cooler than I thought it would be, but still it had the potential to be far better than it was.
For a while my dad must’ve watched this movie like 20 times. he kept telling me it’s good, but i refused for several reasons. 1) I can’t see Chris Evans playing serious (to me he’ll always be the dumb jock from “Not Another Teen Movie”, no matter how many superheros he plays), and 2) I refuse to watch Statham play a bad guy. Hell, I loved “War” until the dumb twist ending. I haven’t watched it once since seeing it in theaters.
I liked it because Statham was the villain for once. That was cool to see.
I remember reading a really good review for this on IGN when it first came out, so I went to go see it in theaters. I don’t remember much about the plot but I remembered being disappointed at the time. Maybe I expected too much going into it and I might like it now.
I DID like Push quite a bit though. I was skeptical about Chris Evans being cast as Steve Rogers/Captain America but the trailers make him look promising.
it got Rick Hoffman as the slimy lawyer dude that he now plays in SUITS!!!
I remember really enjoying this film, and wondering why no one ever checked it out. As you pointed out, the cast is great, the story idea fairly unique and fun, and they kept it at a pace that made you excited all the way to the end. By the way, Kim Bassinger is kidnapped because her husband accidentally caught footage of cops executing criminals and stealing money. Jason Statham was the top cop. Awesome movie man.
This one is pretty much a classic.