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.

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Plot Keywords:

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

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Taglines:

enter the mind of a killer

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Genres:

Sci-Fi | Thriller

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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

Director Tarsem Singh asked Tara Subkoff during her interview if she could swim, to which she responded that she could and that she had been a lifeguard. It turned out that she could not go under water without holding her nose. Singh would have switched her role with Catherine Sutherland, but it was too late and there was not enough money or time to re-shoot.

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Goofs

While Carl was "hooking himself up" on his first victim, she could be seen breathing as her diaphragm was moving up and down.

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Quotes

Carl Stargher: Mares eat oats, and does eat oats, and little lambs eat ivy. A kid'll eat ivy, too... wouldn't you?

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Connections

References Jacob's Ladder (1990)

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Soundtracks

"YOU CAN FIND THE FEELING"
(RADIO EDIT)
Written by Bachir Attar, Talvin Singh and Brad Somatik
Performed by Master Musicians of Jajouka featuring Bachir Attar
Courtesy of Point Music, Decca Music Group

User Reviews

Every once in a while a film comes along that stands apart from all others made in years. The Matrix did it last year, and The Cell has done it in 2000.

The last film that provided a vivid and disturbing look at what insanity is probably like was In Dreams. In that movie, you didn't see insanity, you were THERE. Now The Cell comes along with an updated and much more disturbing portrayal of the inside of the mind of a psychotic killer. The opening scene takes you into the seemingly innocent mind of a comatose little boy, and the things that Catherine Deane (Jennifer Lopez) sees are first fascinating and then terrifying. The things that she later sees in the mind of Vincent Stargher (Vincent D'Onofrio) are amazingly imaginative and fascinating, most of this stuff has never been seen in film before.

The story of The Cell is not exactly something that is really groundbreaking. In fact, it is basically the same as the story in The Silence of the Lambs. You have a killer in custody and these people have to enter his mind to find a female victim who is currently in danger of losing her life. The only real difference between the foundation of the plots is that in The Silence of the Lambs, you have to enter the mind of a killer to find a different killer as well as his current victim, while in The Cell, you have to enter the mind of a killer to find his own victim. However, despite the unfortunately weak story, The Cell completely revolutionizes the genre of the psychological thriller. None that have ever been made even come close to it.

Also, the film had good direction and was extremely well acted. Vince Vaughn delivers another of his characteristically excellent performances (he was even good as Norman Bates in the pathetic 1998 re-make of Psycho), and even Jennifer Lopez puts forth the second good effort of her career (the other being the great Out of Sight). Nothing can be said of the cinematography in The Cell to give it sufficient credit, it was imaginative and fascinatingly done and is unparalleled by anything ever seen in cinematic history. The Cell is an incredibly well-made film, and it deserves to be recognized.