| | | If the signal dies so does she.
Features: DVD, Platinum Series, Widescreen, Aspect Ratio 2.35:1, Dolby Digital (5.1) Stereo, Featurettes, Deleted Scenes, Audio Commentary, Theatrical Trailer, English, Spanish Subtitled
The very definition of a "taut" thriller, this suspense yarn scripted by Larry Cohen (PHONE BOOTH) aims straight for the adrenaline glands and never lets go. A lazy beach bum named Ryan (Chris Evans) finds himself getting focused in a real hurry when he receives a random cell phone call from kidnapped biology teacher (Kim Basinger). She's locked in an attic with a room full of killers below, and has only managed to contact him via crossing loose wires on a smashed phone; if they lose the connection, she may never get another one, and the kidnappers are going after her child next. What follows is a nonstop race all over Los Angeles as Ryan deals with connection-threatening problems like tunnels, low batteries, and crossed signals. William H. Macy is great as the weary cop who doggedly senses something's amiss, and British actor Jason Statham (SNATCH) is a really scary kidnapper with a convincing American accent. Hitchcock would likely smile in approval of director David R. Ellis borrowing many of his suspense building tricks, as it's all in the service of keeping the anxiety jacked up to maximum. This is fine b-movie entertainment, with believable, intelligent characters, no GGI effects, and everything happening in (almost) real time. Highlights include a cell phone store visit and Eddie Driscoll as an obnoxious lawyer. Basinger is amazing, as usual, in a difficult role.System Requirements:Running Time 94 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE
"The film works by putting the accelerator to the floor and never looking in the rear-view mirror." Keith Phipps, The Onion (A.V. Club)
"Very slick, very compelling and not nearly as predictable as it sounds. " William Arnold, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Editor's Note
The very definition of a "taut" thriller, this suspense yarn scripted by Larry Cohen (PHONE BOOTH) aims straight for the adrenaline glands and never lets go. A lazy beach bum named Ryan (Chris Evans) finds himself getting focused in a real hurry when he receives a random cell phone call from kidnapped biology teacher (Kim Basinger). She's locked in an attic with a room full of killers below, and has only managed to contact him via crossing loose wires on a smashed phone; if they lose the connection, she may never get another one, and the kidnappers are going after her child next. What follows is a nonstop race all over Los Angeles as Ryan deals with connection-threatening problems like tunnels, low batteries, and crossed signals. William H. Macy is great as the weary cop who doggedly senses something's amiss, and British actor Jason Statham (SNATCH) is a really scary kidnapper with a convincing American accent. Hitchcock would likely smile in approval of director David R. Ellis borrowing many of his suspense building tricks, as it's all in the service of keeping the anxiety jacked up to maximum. This is fine b-movie entertainment, with believable, intelligent characters, no GGI effects, and everything happening in (almost) real time. Highlights include a cell phone store visit and Eddie Driscoll as an obnoxious lawyer. Basinger is amazing, as usual, in a difficult role.
| Features | "Celling Our" Featurette | | "Code Of Silence: Inside The Rampart Scandal" Featurette | | "Dialing Up Cellular" Featurette | | Audio Commentary | | Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, Stereo | | Deleted/Alternate Scenes With Optional Director Commentary | | DVD-ROM Enabled "Script-To-Screen" Program | | Interactive Menus | | Scene Selection | | Theatrical Trailers | | Widescreen Presentation | | Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1 Stereo | | Subtitles: English, Spanish | | Celling Out Featurette: A look at cellphones in today's culture | | Dialing Up Cellular Featurette: Making of the film | | Featurette: Inside the Rampart scandal | | Audio Commentary with Director David Ellis, Writers Larry Cohen and Chris Morgan | | DVD Rom Feature: Script To Screen | | Deleted Scenes With Optional Director Commentary |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: New Line |
| Release Date: 12/11/2007 |
| Running Time: 95 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 2004 | | Catalog ID: 7631 | | UPC: 00794043763120 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English | | Available Subtitles: English, Spanish | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1 |
| Cast & Crew
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| | Professional Reviews | New York Times
"[A]n improbably enjoyable new telecommunications action thriller....[I]t also has an easygoing, balmy vibe..." 09/10/2004 p.E11Entertainment Weekly
"Chris Evans is blithely likable....Basinger makes a vividly frightened woman in peril, and William H. Macy scores..." 09/17/2004 p.49 USA Today
"CELLULAR is a well-paced action film in the vein of SPEED." 09/10/2004 p.6D Los Angeles Times
"CELLULAR is cleverly set up..." 09/10/2004 p.E7 Chicago Sun-Times
"The movie is skillfully plotted, halfway plausible and well acted; the craftsmanship is in the details, including the astonishing number of different ways in which a cell phone can be made to function." 09/10/2004 p.31 Sight and Sound
"CELLULAR hurtles along at a grand pace....It's the smaller character moments that resonate?The best moments come from Kim Basinger..." 12/01/2004 p.43-4 James Berardinelli's ReelViews 8 of 10
Cellular is a nearly perfectly executed "high concept" thriller, that, like Speed and Phone B
Chicago Sun-Times 9 of 10
The plot of Cellular sounds like a gimmick, and no wonder: It is a gimmick. What's surprising - Roger Ebert
Washington Post 8 of 10
This unpretentious little bit of superior craftsmanship will be utterly mesmerizing to two kinds of - Stephen Hunter
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