The Cell (2000)

THE CELL (2000)
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
January 10th, 2001

Villains of any size, shape or form, whether depicted in cinema or literature, are often interesting when they are made to see human, particularly when there is a side to them that we can identify with. Often such identification results in disgust because we see that we are as capable of murder, torture or an assault of any kind towards humanity. The same holds true of serial killers, and the best film about them is still John McNaughton's "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer," the most potent film imaginable about diseased minds, all the more disturbing because it shows a man who could be your next-door neighbor. "The Cell" is not one of those films, it has a glossy sheen to it but it lacks much human interest and is seemingly submerged in gory visuals.

The serial killer in this film is Carl Stargher (Vincent D'Onofrio) who kidnaps his victims with the help of his albino dog (a rare breed) and keeps them encased in a subterrranean glass box before submerging in water and videotaping their helpless ordeals. And, to make matters worse, he turns them into dolls, masturbates with them by suspending himself from the ceiling, and then dumps them in reservoirs under bridges. This Carl is certainly monstrous and evil enough but he also has enormous headaches and ends up in a coma (partly due to a viral schizophrenic condition). The FBI eventually finds him, but there is still one living victim about to be submerged in water within 40 hours!

Enter the good social worker, Catherine Deane (Jennifer Lopez), who interacts with her patients by entering their subconscious via cables and wires (reminiscent of the sleeper hit from eons ago, "Dreamscape.") Catherine is enlisted to enter the mind of Carl, and at first hesistant, she chooses to find a way of making Carl trust her long enough to find the latest victim. What follows are vividly oversaturated colored dreamscapes, evoking the style of Dali and the tortured psyche of David Lynch, and many of these scenes are incredible designed and photographed. I love the opening sequence of Lopez walking in the desert with a flowing white robe, or the images of horses, blinding white lights in the form of crystals, crimson red neck braces, gold dresses littered with thousands of rhinestones, and so on. Never has the mind of a serial killer looked so inviting and yet so dangerous.

The artwork, cinematography, and lighting of all of these dreams are spectacular and one of first-time director Tarsem Singh's strengths. But, as is often the case with music video directors, the visual style of such scenes seems to be its only strength. Singh barely uncovers much depth in any of these characters, including Lopez's Deane, a social worker who lives with a cat. That is it, that is all we discover about her and that she has a thing for driving herself into the subconscious of kids in coma states.

As for the Stargher character, minimal attempt is made to make this sexual monster human. D'Onofrio has shown shards of sympathy for his characters before (notably his crazed Gomer Pyle character in "Full Metal Jacket") but here, he is at the mercy of the director's deliberately overdone visuals, which shed precious little insight into this schizo's personality.

If "The Cell" did not depend on plot as much as characterization (eliminating the race-against-time-to-save-the-victim angle might have helped), then it could have had the humanity of something like "Silence of the Lambs." "The Cell's" frenetic energy, purely caffeinated, pounding-like-an-ultra-sound-bass musical score deflate any essential particulars like depth or substance. I want to recommend "The Cell" based on its often strong visual imagination but its generic police investigation and thin characters (including Vince Vaughn as an FBI expert on serial killers) diminish whatever the potency the story had.

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