TAGLINE: This summer... enter the mind of a killer.
Do you ever have those dreams that seem so real that you think they might have been? This is what The Cell is like, a dream. You enter the twisted mind of a serial killer and are soon lost in a dark world of beautifully disturbing visuals.
The story opens on Dr. Catherine Deane, Jennifer Lopez, wandering the mind of Edward, a comatose, schizophrenic boy. She rides a black horse across a barren desert to find the child lost in his world. When she reaches him, he turns into his alter ego, a boogey-man of sorts that haunts his own mind.
Next, we cut to Carl (Vincent D�Onofrio), our serial killer, turning his latest victim into another of his dolls. His trademark style is to lock his victims in a hidden room, or �cell,� for a few days, then fill the room with water and drown them. So, after disposing of this body, he finds a new victim and locks her in the cell.
Finally, we are introduced to detective Novak, Vince Vaughn. After finding the body, the men on the case find a few clues that lead them to find the killer. To their dismay, the man suffers the same special schizophrenia as Edward and is now in a comatose state. So, it�s up to Dr. Deane to go into his mind to see if she can find where his victim is hidden before she dies, under a deadline of forty hours.
When Catherine enters his mind, we are taken to a truly disturbing world. There are naked, dead bodies strewn everywhere, the killer�s little boy self as well as his dark side, and plenty of darkness. These scenes inside the killer�s mind are beautiful, though very dark. Tarsem Singh, the director of music videos such as R.E.M.�s �Losing My Religion,� makes this his feature film debut, and with the same style he brought to the four-minute videos he did in the past.
This is your basic serial killer-detective story with its own unique touches. Though not as good as Seven, or The Silence of the Lambs, or even Copycat, this movie does have its own style, but still doesn't put it near the same league as these films. Anyway, what drives this film is not the story, but the lush visuals and atmosphere. Unlike some films, like Hollow Man, where the special effects look like special effects, this film�s visuals look like someone went inside your subconscious and video-taped your dreams. They are beautiful, mystical, engaging, and unlike anything I�ve ever seen before in a film.
The performances are usual for this type of movie. I loved Jennifer Lopez�s performance in Selena, and here I liked her almost as much. Vince Vaughn, I have never really been a fan of and this movie doesn�t change things much. Vincent D�Onofrio, however, I think is phenomenal and steals the show. After a while, you forget that he is not only the serial killer, but also that dark creature in his mind.
The story is creative, though conventional, and most of the performances are pretty much consistent, but the visuals lock you in completely. So, even though this movie is not the best film of the year, it still might give the most thrilling movie experience of the year. It is dark, disturbing, and definitely not for little kids, but still a disappointment. If I had to describe this film in one word, the most accurate would be �trippy,� because this experience is a total trip.
