Overview
I haven't done a movie review in a long time. Possibly because nothing was striking a chord or energizing me enough to write about it. Now let's address the burning question.
Cellular (2004) |
Plot
Carefree and somewhat sluggish Ryan (Chris Evans) is enjoying a typical sunny day on the Santa Monica pier when he runs into his ex, Chloe (Jessica Biel). Ryan offers to make it up to Chloe by helping out with her fundraiser. Chloe is not impressed but assigns an errand to Ryan.
On the way to the errand , Ryan receives a mysterious phone call on his cell. The frantic caller identifies herself as Jessica Martin (Kim Basinger). She lets Ryan know that she is calling from a makeshift phone which was left damaged by a dangerous man (Jason Statham) who had kidnapped her and beseeches Ryan to go to the police. Ryan at first doesn't believe the caller but finally relents after much deliberation.
Kim Basinger as Jessica |
Ryan stops at a police station and reports the matter to Sergeant Mooney (William H. Macy) whose curiosity is piqued when he hears the woman's voice. He diligently notes her details down but his attention is diverted when a fight breaks out at the police station. He directs Ryan to reach out to the detective division before jumping in to stop the melee.
Sergeant Mooney hears Jessica's plight |
On the way to the detective division Ryan is alerted by a hysterical Jessica that the kidnappers were heading out to grab her son from school. Not having a moment to lose, Ryan abandons his mission and hurries towards the school. Will he reach in time to save the kid?
After sorting the disturbance out, Sergeant Mooney inquires with his detective colleague about the kidnapped woman. When he learns that nobody reported such a case, he himself decides to go to the woman's house to investigate the matter. There to his greatest surprise he finds Jessica Martin safe and sound. Has Jessica really been kidnapped or is the whole thing just a sham?
Who are Jessica's mysterious captor and what are their motives? To know the answers to all of these questions you have to watch Cellular.
Why Cellular?
- An action movie survives on strong conflict. Jessica wants to escape while Jason Statham's character needs her to stay captive. Ryan wants to help Jessica but also needs to be there for his estranged girlfriend. Sergeant Mooney wants to end his career on a high and get the respect he so dearly craves for. Multiple threads play out with each of the lead characters and all of them converge into an explosive climax. The multiple parallel threads ensure that there's not a single dull moment in the movie.
- The a-list star cast is a huge plus for this movie. Kim Basinger as Jessica Martin is top notch. You can't help but feel for the peril she finds herself in. William H. Macy delivers a sincere performance (as always), his investigation scenes are definitely a highlight of this movie. Before he was a star, he was a heavy and Jason Statham looks every bit menacing as the lead antagonist. A pre-Captain America Chris Evans lights up the screen with his energy. He oscillates effortlessly between the carefree and savior-in-need personas of Ryan and more importantly takes you along on his roller-coaster pursuit.
Jessica with her captors - Action movies normally don't have a suspense element. The suspense in Cellular unfolds gradually as the plot progresses and I must say that some of the twists did surprise me.
Best Scene in the movie
Summary
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