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Back Shelf Beauties
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Cellular I had a good laugh when Kim Basinger was recounting a recent story on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. She was outside a movie theater on her cell phone when many people around her started to laugh and point. Since Kim is a hottie and huge Hollywood star, she's not used to people openly mocking her (so that's how the other half lives). It turns out Ms. Basinger was standing directly in front of a poster for her new movie, Cellular, which features a photo of her on the phone. In a way, it was a perfect story since it's the type of funny sight gag that would find its way into Cellular. Basinger stars as Jessica Martin - a well-to-do high school science teacher with a great house, successful husband (Richard Burgi), and a good kid in Brentwood. One morning, her house is raided, she's kidnapped, dragged off to a secret location she has never seen before, and kept prisoner in the attic. Jessica's only hope is a smashed phone, which she uses to randomly dial Ryan (Chris Evans) - an unreliable, slacker kind of guy who answers her desperate phone call from out of the blue. Can Ryan figure out how to help her? Why was Jessica kidnapped? Who are the kidnappers? This movie shows you why I have caller ID on my cell phone. I don't need some crazed drug dealer accidentally calling me in the middle of the night, or some horrifying scenario like this one. Cellular is a fun, exciting thriller with a sense of humor and storytelling. Aside from one, major, glaring mistake in logic (see if you can find it like I did), director David Ellis does a wonderful job keeping the action moving in a tense and believable way. Unlike other movies we have seen this year, the action flows in a sensible manner with only a few instances of amazing coincidence helping the story (people having relationships in just the right way at the right time, others showing up at just the right time). He's able to keep us on the edge of our seats, gripped by every twist, turn, and shocking change in the action. Chris Morgan's screenplay is average, but he does have moments of absolute brilliant comic relief like the son named Ricky Martin, or Ryan's reaction to cell phone use by others. It's the kind of comedy that helps gloss over incidents and script elements we might find absurd, even turning the absurdness on itself so we can all enjoy it. Also, he has fun with cell phones and their roles in our lives in several scenes that will have you laughing because you know it's true. On the acting front, Basinger and Evans make a decent team even though they spend the movie apart. The roles are not complicated, but each one excels. Basinger is great as the lady in peril, breathlessly begging into the phone for help as Jessica faces her possible death, and danger to her family. Evans shows he might have a future as an action hero as he races from situation to situation, always showing us Ryan's growing concern for Jessica as he has to leap hurdle after hurdle to keep the cell phone signal active, and try to find her. Cellular is the movie to see this week. 3 ½ Waffles (Out Of 4) Copyright 2004 - WaffleMovies.com
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