Cellular

The screenwriter of Phone Booth somewhat recycled his previous idea and routineer Ellis directed it. Loads of horrendous clichés, unimpressive acting performances and an unlikeable main protagonist make this picture really boring. Unfortunately not even the typically outstanding Macy or the usually cool Statham don’t have the change to rescue the picture from drowning in waters of mediocrity. An uninteresting picture that comes up with nothing new and even what we have seen a hundred times over is delivered in a form that is even worse than the competition. (14/11/2004)

It is rare to find such a textbook example of product placement in the film industry as in this little movie. However, I must admit that I wasn't bored at all by this bloated advertisement for NOKIA. The film's advantages are its fast pace and reasonable runtime. Although I am sensitive to poorly written scripts and plot inconsistencies, in this case, these shortcomings didn't bother me. Kim Basinger, as the main star, attracts attention about as much as my grandmother in a nightgown, but even that is not a hindrance. If you don't have high expectations, the film offers a decent chance for entertainment and represents a light genre above average. Overall impression: 65%. (17/05/2007)

At first, I was quite scared about what Morgan, the debutant, had prepared for me in the script, because the main abduction happens before I even get a chance to settle down, and right from the beginning it presents an unbearably (and almost unwatchable) hysterical Kim Basinger and Chris Evans, who is trying to win back his ex-girlfriend. In the end, it turns out to be a mixture that alternates excellently built tension with logical lapses and adds a moderately high pile of clichés on top of it all. Fortunately, a likable character gradually emerges from the mess, so I had someone to cheer for, and thanks to Evans in particular, I have the impression of a better-than-average movie in Cellular. (06/06/2006)

Cellular is not a serious and suspenseful thriller by any stretch of the imagination. It’s rather just an overwrought joke of a movie with a lot of clichés and donkey bridges. And even some of the characters are copies of other characters from better and more famous films (for example, Macy’s cop is a facsimile of Duvall’s Prendergast from Falling Down). Kim Basinger is bland and Chris Evans is simply just there with his TV-series good looks. On the other hand, if you don’t take it seriously, but merely as a lively 100-minute Nokia commercial, you’ll have a good time, but definitely not a better time than producer Dean Devlin had after signing the contract with the company. (12/10/2004)

In some places Cellular was unexpectedly surprising, but most of the movie is more or less one big cliché. But undemanding entertainment for a Friday evening. Evans is really very cool here while Statham is in a rather untraditional negative role. Also a small role for Jessica Biel was a nice surprise. How extraordinary that these three met a year later in the drama London. (18/05/2007)