Cellular (2004)

A young man receives an emergency phone call on his cell phone from an older woman. The catch? The woman claims to have been kidnapped; and the kidnappers have targeted her husband and child next.

Director:

David R. Ellis

Writers:

Larry Cohen (story), Chris Morgan (screenplay)

Stars:

Kim Basinger, Chris Evans, Jason Statham

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Caroline Aaron	...	Marilyn Mooney
Kim Basinger	...	Jessica Martin
Brenda Ballard	...	Irate Customer #1
Will Beinbrink	...	Young Security Guard
Jessica Biel	...	Chloe
Chase Ellis Bloch	...	Timid Boy (as Chase Bloch)
Chelsea Ellis Bloch	...	Surf Girl's Friend (as Chelsea Bloch)
Chantille Boudousque	...	Chloe's Chilly Friend
Robin Brenner	...	Excitable Customer
Richard Burgi	...	Craig Martin
Paige Cannon	...	Girl at Concert
Nikki Christian	...	Porsche Girl
John Churchill	...	Young Guard
Greg Collins	...	Aging Security Guard
Valerie Cruz	...	Dana Bayback

Storyline

After dropping her son off at the bus stop, the doting mum and high school science teacher, Jessica Martin, is kidnapped at gunpoint, and thrown in an unknown attic with only a nearly unusable phone. As her world turns upside down in an instant, the desperate mother manages to jury-rig the device and connects with the cell phone of the young college student, Ryan. Now, Jessica's life is literally in Ryan's hands--and as the ruthless abductors threaten to kill her--Ryan has to act fast to rescue the woman on the other end of the line. However, with a dying battery, how can Ryan save Jessica when this could be her last phone call?

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Plot Keywords:

cell phone | fishnet pantyhose | pantyhose | woman | police | 

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Taglines:

If the signal dies so does she.

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for violence, terror situations, language and some sexual references

Did You Know?

Trivia

Larry Cohen worked on the script while he tried to get his screenplay Phone Booth (2002) sold. In a New Yorker article he says he wrote the film with the intention that it would be the direct opposite to Phone Booth (Phone Booth is about a man trapped on a phone in a booth, while this movie is about a man who is still trapped on a phone but can go anywhere). However, his friends told him that he had written the same screenplay twice.

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Goofs

When Jessica cuts the goon's arm she tells him that he will bleed 30 liters/minute. The blood flow through a brachial artery is nowhere near that much. During vigorous exercise the entire heart puts out a total of 30 L/min, but that's the sum total flow through every artery of the body. The flow though a single brachial artery is fraction of that. In addition, the goon was not vigorously exercising. At rest, the cardiac output is about 5 L/min.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Ricky Martin: Mom, will you still be a science teacher when I get into high school?
Jessica Martin: Hmm... You never know. Why?
Ricky Martin: 'Cause I think it'd be kind of weird to have your mom as a teacher.

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Crazy Credits

The first part of the closing credits show cast and crew names on cellular telephone screens, in scenes from the film.

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Connections

Featured in Celling Out (2004)

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Soundtracks

Baby Why
Written by Garrett Dutton
Performed by G. Love & Special Sauce
Courtesy of Philadelphonic Records

User Reviews

An entertaining and intense movie from beginning to end

A kidnapped woman (Kim Basinger) frantically dials a random number on a broken telephone, reaching the cellular phone of a young man in a different state (Chris Evans) who begins a race against time to find and save her before the connection is lost or she is killed.

Cellular is a fast paced, exciting and entertaining movie. It is a simple film yet an interesting one. The plot isn't new or anything but the execution is pretty good. They manage to keep the audience glued to the screen and at the edge of their seats. Keep in mind though that the film is highly unrealistic. There are a few eye rolling moments and some of the scenes may be hard to buy. I didn't have any real problems with it but some other people may complain about it. The movie is also pretty predictable. It is easy to see where things are going and the inside man is also easy to figure out.

The acting is pretty good with the best being William H. Macy. He plays the cop role pretty well and he has a few funny lines. Chris Evans gives a decent performance and he is now forgiven for appearing in the Perfect Score. Kim Basinger gives an okay performance. Sometimes she was a little too weak while other times she was just average. Jessica Biel was in the movie for about 10 minutes so it's not really worth watching. Jason Statham gives a pretty convincing performance as the bad guy though sometimes he seemed a little bored. Noah Emmerich gives an awful performance as Jack. He was just reading his lines the entire time. One of the worst performances of 2004.

David R. Ellis does a good job at directing. He keeps the audience entertained and he never lets stupidity bring down the movie. If you do give the movie a shot, just ignore any plot holes. Cellular is a thriller/action movie and if you take it seriously then you will hate the movie. The film is advertised as a harmless thriller and it succeeds as one. In the end, Cellular is a "B" movie at heart and a pretty good one. It never takes itself too seriously and it never becomes dull. Rating 8/10

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Warner Bros

Country:

USA Germany

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 September 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

Cellular

Filming Locations:

Baldwin Hills Mansion, Inglewood Oil Field, Culver City, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$10,600,000, 12 September 2004

Gross USA:

$32,003,620

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$57,678,321

Company Credits

Production Co:

New Line Cinema, Electric Entertainment, LFG Filmproduktions & Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1