The story line is predictable, the direction about average and the actors either have past, or are yet to reach their peak. To make a movie like this good is a challenge, but somehow, the cast and crew of "Cellular" managed to make a semi-decent movie out of it.
Let's start with the plot. A man in his early twenties receives a phone call from a woman who claims to be kidnapped. It takes this man a little while to actually believe her, but when he does, he goes all out to try and save this woman, her husband and her child. Along the way, the young man, Ryan (Chris Evans), finds himself in the middle of a huge conspiracy that has nothing to do with him.
If you think about it, this plot could be the start of a very good movie. If only the plot hadn't been used before. Think back not too long ago to "Phone Booth." Colin Farrell picks up a random phone call to find himself in a lot of trouble. Sure, Colin Farrell was in a booth and was trying to save himself, not someone else, but in any case, the phone thing has been done before.
Now, in order to get away with a used premise of a plot, director David R. Ellis had to come up with new ways to put this plot into action. Let's say that he did an okay job. There is nothing new about "Cellular," but it is interesting just the same. In a way, you have seen it all before, but this is a different movie.
Now that we have the average stuff out of the way, let's move to the one major thing that was sub-average -- the acting. You would expect that a veteran actress like Kim Basinger could deliver a better performance than she did here. Basinger plays the kidnapped mother, wife and science teacher, Jessica Martin. Through her science knowledge, she puts together a smashed telephone and calls Ryan. Her family is being attacked and she is helpless. You would think that this woman would be hysterical. She makes the character sound wimpy, whiny and just not frantic enough. At times, she seems a little too composed for her son to be in grave danger.
In her defense, I can see how it is hard to act out all this in only a voice. She is, after all, on the phone for a little more than half the movie. When she is acting in the flesh, she is okay. Notice how I say "okay" and not "good." But in spite of everything, this is Academy Award Winning (1998 Best Supporting Actress) Kim Basinger -- I expected better.
Chris Evans is still a fairly unknown actor with only 10 films under his belt. Notable credits include genius movies like "Not Another Teen Movie" and "The Perfect Score." These things considered, I think he did pretty well in one of his first serious roles. If his character had failed, this movie would be getting way fewer stars than it is receiving now. Although Basinger may be the best-known actor in this film, Evans is in the spotlight. He is the one who must execute the tasks. He is the hero. Nothing special, but he did well.
One actor who did do a very good job is William H. Macy, who plays Officer Mooney, the cop. Unlike Basinger, Macy's veteran acting status shows as he plays a cop close to retirement. He is tired and slightly disappointed with his job, wanting to spend the rest of his working life helping his wife run a day spa. This makes for some very funny scenes, which are made even better by Mooney's dry, tired personality.
Acting points drop immensely with the performances of the bad guys played by Jason Statham, Eddie Driscoll and Eric Etebari. Since their rolls require little talk, their facial expressions do all the talking for them. But these are hard to read since their expressions remain forever constant and don't ever change. It is a shame because with a little work, these bad guys could have been very interesting people, because, believe it or not, the characters actually have interesting backgrounds. Actually, it may have been harder to portray these characters badly, because they were given background to work with. Either way, the evil parts in "Cellular" are not worth the excitement.
The very worst part of the movie comes with the credits. True, this is a slightly unimportant part of the movie, but it is nevertheless the way audiences leave the theater and they inevitably affect the way we see the movie. When the credits roll you think they are going to show bloopers or something of the sort since they start replaying scenes from the film. Instead, they replay the scene, only to cut to the phone and roll credits. If this sounds bad to you, double it. I believe that if you are going to make a credit sequence that audiences are going to watch, you need to make it good. This one was horrible.
All in all, this movie is okay. There are better things to see out there and so I wouldn't recommend this being your movie of choice. If you want to see a telephone related action movie, go and rent "Phone Booth." Nevertheless, if for any reason, you are stuck seeing this movie, as I was, it won't be a total waste of your time. There are a couple of nice twists and turns and a couple of good looking people to distract you from the bad acting. There are some thrilling moments and some funny scenes that may make your time slightly worthwhile.
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