Review of The Cell (2000) by Jarrett M — 14 Apr 2012

Like much of Tarsem Singh's work, this film's depiction of character's mindscapes is extremely impressive visually. Over the years, I have really begun to admire Tarsem's fantastic visual flair, and it is the biggest selling point of his films.

Sometimes the plot and characters are just as interesting, and then sometime they are not. Unfortunately, The Cell falls into the latter category. While the dreamscapes are populated with bizarre characters, mindbending set designs, gloriously inventive costume design and amazing visual and practical effects, the real world is considerably less engaging.

The characters as they exist in reality are a lot less captivating. The performances are passable from the cast, but not really outstanding. Vince Vaughn does a good job in one of his few straight roles, and Vincent D'Onofrio does an effective job as the physcologically damaged Carl Stargher.

Although, don't expect his performance to be be on par with Anthony Hopkin's Hannibal Lecter. While I think that this is a film worth seeing, it really is for the purpose if seeing Tarsem's vision of the mindscapes of damaged individuals.

Everything that surrounds those sequences just seems like filler.