The Cell (2000)

An FBI agent persuades a social worker, who is adept with a new experimental technology, to enter the mind of a comatose serial killer in order to learn where he has hidden his latest kidnap victim.

Director:

Tarsem Singh

Writer:

Mark Protosevich

Stars:

Jennifer Lopez, Colton James, Vincent D'Onofrio

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 4 wins & 18 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

Catharine Deane is a psychotherapist who is part of a revolutionary new treatment which allows her mind to literally enter the mind of her patients. Her experience in this method takes an unexpected turn when an FBI agent comes to ask for a desperate favour. They had just tracked down a notorious serial killer, Carl Stargher, whose MO is to abduct women one at a time and place them in a secret area where they are kept for about 40 hours until they are slowly drowned. Unfortunately, the killer has fallen into an irreversible coma which means he cannot confess where he has taken his latest victim before she dies. Now, Catherine Deane must race against time to explore the twisted mind of the killer to get the information she needs, but Stargher's damaged personality poses dangers that threaten to overwhelm her.

---

Plot Keywords:

serial killer | fbi | coma | race against time | necrophilia | 

---

Taglines:

enter the mind of a killer

---

Genres:

Sci-Fi | Thriller

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA Germany

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 August 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Cela

Filming Locations:

Bakersfield, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$33,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$36,626 (Norway) (10 November 2000)

Gross:

ESP 652,426,863 (Spain) (29 June 2001)

Company Credits

Production Co:

New Line Cinema, Caro-McLeod, Radical Media

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min 109 min (director's cut)

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the scene where Catherine talks with Carl while he is "cleaning" his first victim, the scenery resembles the music video "Losing My Religion" by R.E.M.; that video was directed by this film's director, Tarsem Singh.

---

Goofs

The cell contains a toilet that would ordinarily act as a drain, but presumably Carl has arranged for it to close when the cell is filling with water.

---

Quotes

Catharine Deane: Hey you.
[pets young Carl's horse]
Catharine Deane: You know, I know another little boy who has a horse. His name's Edward. The boy, not the horse.

---

Connections

Featured in The Cell 2 (2009)

---

Soundtracks

"O SCIORE CCHIU FELICE"
Written by Raiz (as G. Della Volpe), Stefano Facchielli (as S. Facchielli), Giovanni Mantice (as G. Mantice), Pier Paolo Polcari and Gennaro Tesone (as G. Tesone)
Performed by Almamegretta (as Alma Me Gretta)
Courtesy of BMG Ricordi S.p.A.
By Arrangement with The RCA Records Label of BMG Entertainment

User Reviews

The Cell: whoa... eww... whoa...

The last time I reviewed a film helmed by a music video director, I was very angry at what I'd seen (`Mystery Men'), but Tarsem Singh spares us the fish-eye lenses and commercial overindulgences and decides to concentrate on presenting an astonishing visual and audible journey into the mind of a serial killer in `The Cell'.

Carl Stargher (Vincent D'Onofrio) kills women by drowning them in glass cells, all the while videotaping the event. Afterwards, he disfigures the bodies to resemble dolls and then tosses the finished `products' off highways into ditches and streams. Nice guy. He also likes to suspend himself on chains attached to hooks inserted directly into his back. Lovely.

Meanwhile, FBI agent Peter Novak (Vince Vaughn) is hot on the killer's trail, and although Carl's started to get sloppy, he's just kidnapped another girl and she has 40 hours before her cell fills with water. Carl is soon apprehended, but only because he enters into a schizophrenic seizure and falls into a coma on his kitchen floor. A coma? But how are they going to find out where the last victim is? Oh, if only they could TRAVEL INSIDE HIS MIND. Hey, what a coincidence! Catherine Deane (Jennifer Lopez) is a child psychologist involved in an experimental project that allows her to TRAVEL INSIDE THE MIND of coma victims.

And so begins a strange array of visuals and sounds, blended together so unusually that you honestly feel like you're experiencing a dream… a not so pleasant dream. Not only is Carl's mind slightly twisted, it's violent, disturbingly sexual, and very graphic. But, it's also like a train wreck; you can't help but look. Oddly enough, Mr. Singh clearly had the resources to make his special effects scream out at you with bright color and absurd lavishness, but he chose instead to simplify, placing the terror in the scale and content of the visuals. I can't even use an example. All I can say is think about a dream you've had that you couldn't describe to someone, and that's what watching this movie is like. The photography is so stunning that it virtually eliminates the need for dialogue (only about half the film has discourse), and coupled with the horrifically spooky and scathing soundtrack, the film literally takes on a life of its own.

My only objection is that when all is said and done, the only character we really understand is the serial killer. Several clues about the other characters' pasts led me to believe that their lives would come into play and that their own memories would be tested and confronted. To me, this would have taken this story to yet another psychological level, but perhaps it would have been too much for viewers.

Despite this shortcoming, `The Cell' stills provides a myriad of images that will make you want to watch a lot of cute cartoons before turning in for the night. Still, I don't know what was more disturbing: the movie, or the parents in the next row over who brought their two small kids to watch it.