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Review by Dustin Putman
3½ stars out of 4
Following a fairly disappointing summer, where every movie seemed to be a
cliched take-off of a film already made, acclaimed music video director
Tarsem Singh's "The Cell" is a visionary masterpiece, not quite like anything
you've ever seen before, nor will likely ever see again. A disturbing,
evocative journey into the human mind, the film recalls your spookiest
dreams, most forbidden fantasies, and darkest past memories, strung together
in an unforgettably bold visual palette. That such a creative and bizarre
motion picture was made at all is relatively surprising. That such a creative
and bizarre motion picture was made in the big-budget world of mainstream
Hollywood is nearly a miracle.
Catherine Deane (Jennifer Lopez) is a hard-working, sympathetic child
therapist who, for seven years, has been working for Dr. Miriam Kent
(Marianne Jean-Baptiste), the head of a top-flight institution and the
creator of the Synaptic Transfer System, which allows a person to literally
go into the subject's mind. Recently, Catherine has been working with a
comatose young boy named Edward (Colton James), attempting to bring him back
into reality, but the process of directly connecting with him is proving
time-consuming and frustrating.
Meanwhile, the body count has risen once again with the discovery of the
eighth body of a woman, found in a lake and bleached completely white, made
to look like a porcelain doll. The schizophrenic killer is Carl Stargher
(Vincent D'Onofrio), who seeks pleasure in kidnapping women, locking them up
in a small Plexiglas room for 40 hours, and then flooding the room completely
with water. What he does next, including suspending himself above his victims
by fourteen metal rings deeply pierced into his body, is best left unsaid.
His latest potential victim is Julia Hickson (Tara Subkoff), who has gone
missing from the area and has forty hours to be found before she drowns.
Worst of all is that Carl Stargher has just lapsed into a coma, preventing
him from being able to tell anyone where Julia is located.
Enter FBI Agent Peter Novak (Vince Vaughn), whose only hope of saving Julia's
life is persuading Catherine to go into Carl's mind. While the chance of
success for such short notice is slim, Catherine agrees, not knowing what
severely twisted things lie within the mind of such a pathological, mentally
unhinged person.
A creepy horror-thriller with large helpings of fantastical imagery, "The
Cell" puts a fresh spin on the tiresome Serial Killer genre by not only being
about saving the latest victim in jeopardy, but also focuses on the
inner-workings of a sick mind. A thought-provoking triumph, the film is
possibly one of the most visually imaginative films ever put to celluloid,
aided by director Singh, screenwriter Mark Protosevich, and, arguably the
star of the picture, cinematographer Paul Laufer. Using jump cuts, slow
motion, fast motion, upside-down and sideways shots, and many more stylish
techniques, Singh and Laufer have created an entirely new world, one that is
as beautiful and awe-inspiring as it is threatening and nightmarish. If
Tarsem Singh ever had a blueprint to model "The Cell" after, his original
film source would clearly be Luis Bunuel's mesmerizing "Un Chien Andalou," in
which every grotesque moment was a powerful metaphor for the unfortunate toll
that schizophrenia had taken on a person.
Carl, whose mind portrays his adult self as a powerful ruler who delights in
the torture of all creatures that find their way into his lair, also has
created a version of himself as a frightened child (Jake Thomas) whose father
physically and verbally abuses him. Catherine quickly realizes that the only
possible way to get through to Stargher and find out where Julia is is to
warm up to the child in him, whom she grows to deeply feel for under the
discouraging circumstances.
The beautiful Jennifer Lopez (1998's "Out of Sight"), who has gained added
popularity in the past two years from her debut pop album, "On the 6," should
be applauded for taking on such an undoubtedly daunting project as this.
Lopez appropriately underplays the role of Catherine, who sympathizes with
the abused Carl and seems to connect with him due to something unmentioned
from her own past. While more development could have been done with her
character (the thinly written roles are the picture's sole sore spot), Lopez
brings much-needed maturity and subtlety to Catherine, and believably
portrays a therapist.
Vincent D'Onofrio is both menacing and poignant as the ill Carl Stargher, and
like Lopez, gets to take on many different role and costume changes,
depending on what his mind does with him. The film calls for him to be
psychotic and frightening at certain points, and lonely and scared at others,
and D'Onofrio pulls it off. Vince Vaughn is professional, if unextraordinary,
as Peter Novak, and does exactly what is required of the role, and not much
more.
Featured in supporting roles are Marianne Jean-Baptiste (1996's "Secrets &
Lies") and Dylan Baker (1998's "Happiness"), as the two scientists who head
the project of synaptic transfer; Jake Weber, as Peter's partner, Gordon
Ramsey; and Tara Subkoff, who manages to be powerful in only a few small
scenes, as Carl's last victim, Julia Hickson.
A genuinely rewarding and surprisingly touching experience, "The Cell" is a
one-of-a-kind motion picture that is not only a feast for the eyes and ears
(the music score, by Howard Shore, is erratically memorable), but also works
up and lays bare emotions that are rarely felt in films nowadays. That "The
Cell" is a visually astounding work of art, as well as satisfying on a story
basis is cause for celebration, and director Tarsem Singh deserves all the
praise one could possibly get for making a debut feature as strong as this
one.
Copyright © 2000 Dustin Putman
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