Visually Remarkable
Rating: 7 of 10 
Serial Killers are a topic covered quite exhaustively by shows like Millennium, Profiler and The X-Files, and with Hannibal Lecter still lurking in the background. Thus movies like 'Se7en' feel somehow superfluous, and any other variation on the topic has to be fighting very hard to deserve being called original rather than derivative.
'The Cell' succeeds at first through its visual aspect - through its visualization of the killing mind. It also succeeds through its shockingly realistic portrayal of violence - and through the story's being told from a very human and vulnerable - and vulnerated - perspective.
What is distracting, however, is the uncritical use of pop psychology, and the solution feels rather rushed to, uninspired, lacking a climax. Thus you can somehow get the impression that the visual overkill is somehow seriously lacking true depth, and not even the acting of Jennifer Lopez and Vince Vaughn - and the obtrusingly small part impersonated by Patrick Bauchau - can divert attention from the rather weak and more or less conventional story. If you're simply interested in great and absurd visuals coming to life with a solid musical score, 'The Cell' can be a revelation. Otherwise, don't expect too much, for this is yet another movie suffering from an imbalance between content and form.
December 5th, 2000
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