Review of Cellular (2004) by Timothy S — 23 Feb 2012

David Ellis is one of the more reliable B-movie directors working today, and when you team his talent up with the wacked-out mind of Larry Cohen, the result is bound to be entertaining. And while "Cellular" is anything but plausible, it does entertain in a big way. The film is fast-paced, rarely slowing down long enough to let the viewer puzzle out what's going on, and that's all for the better.

The movie was fairly cutting edge upon its initial release, but now just a few years later, it's hopelessly dated. That really only adds to the fun to be had here, as to first-time viewers, the technology in this fairly recent picture may inspire a lot of unintentional laughs. Luckily for the rest of us, however, Cohen adds enough purposeful humor to balance out the ridicule the technical aspects may inspire.

I loved the quirky touches that take us out of the story while simultaneously enhancing it, such as William H. Macy's plans to open a day spa upon his retirement. There are many other inspired moments like that one, too many in fact to mention them all here. And speaking of Macy, he gives the best performance here, really his best in a while, as a police officer whose smarts and resiliency grounds the picture. It's nice to have an authority figure in a movie like this one who actually believes Chris Evans and simply wants to get to the truth. And when the big plot twist is revealed, it's refreshingly simple, believable and down-to-earth.

There's no big, complicated conspiracy to weight "Cellular" down. This is a lightweight, silly but nevertheless exciting movie that keeps you watching and guessing all the way to the end.