Cast: Chris Evans, Jason Statham, Kim Basinger, Caroline Aaron
Director: David R. Ellis
Rating:
Enetertainment Quotient: 90%
Genre: Action / Crime / Thriller
Runtime: 94 min
MPAA rating: PG-13 for violence, terror situations, language and some sexual references.

Synopsis:

Jessica (Kim Basinger) is kidnapped by the Ethan (Jason Statham) gang. They want to retrieve something very important from Jessica’s family. Jessica calls up an arbitrary number from disjointed pieces of phone. Ryan’s (Chris Evans) cell phone gets that call. She does not know where she is. He needs to stay connected with her to save her. Meanwhile, Mooney (Caroline Aaron) – an honest cop – proceeds to investigate this issue on his own from the clues he got. The rest of the story is all about how Ryan rescues Jessica and her family from Ethan’s gang using the cellular.

What is special in this film?
Cellular is one of the best thrillers I have seen in the past few years. David R. Ellis has worked as stunts director for many Hollywood films. That is why he could mix thrill and fun seamlessly into the stunts without disturbing the flow of narration of the film. I liked the characterization of Mooney played by Caroline Aaron. Chris Evans and Kim Basinger are extremely good. Jason Statham (of Transporter fame) plays the villain.

The scenes I liked

1. Ethan destroying the phone with an axe. (4.12 min & 1st chapter)

2. Ryan firing a round at a cell phone shop for a charger (28.11 min & 6th chapter)

3. Mooney getting irritated whenever somebody refers to his day spa as beauty parlor

4. Ethan saying – It’s a 85 cent bullet to me (warning Jessica that a 85-cent worth bullet is going to take her life)

5. Ryan breaking the alarm while escaping from the bank (51.27 min & 11th chapter).

6. Jessica killing a goon with her experience in teaching biology. (It helps to be a biology teacher if you are a good one – 1.03 hr & 13th Chapter)

7. Ryan calling Ethan’s number and traces him by the ring tone. (1.24 hrs & 15th chapter)

Tailpiece:
I got so much influenced by the looks and functionalities of Nokia 6600 (used by the hero in Cellular film) that I bought one for myself. Later on, I had bad experiences with the performance of the phone and switched to N70. Who says that movies do not influence the masses?

Copycats/inspirations:

1. Mayajalam: SV Krishna Reddy inserted this movie idea into a kidnap sequence in his last film Mayajalam.

2. Venu’s film under production: It is learnt that Venu’s latest film in the direction of Lalith Prabhakar is based on Cellular. Venu, Sridevi & Arti Agarwal play the main leads.