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Cellular
New Line Cinema


6.5

based on 29 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 30 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

FILM:

MPAA RATING: PG-13 for violence, terror situations, language and some sexual references

Starring Kim Basinger, Chris Evans, Jason Statham, William H. Macy, Noah Emmerich, and Jessica Biel

A random wrong number on his cell phone sends a young man into a high-stakes race against time to save a woman's life. (New Line Cinema)

GENRE(S):	Action \| Crime \| Drama \| Mystery \| Suspense/Thriller
WRITTEN BY:	Chris Morgan Larry Cohen (story)
DIRECTED BY:	David R. Ellis
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: January 18, 2005 Video: January 18, 2005 Theatrical: September 10, 2004
RUNNING TIME:	94 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

By occupying their roles believably, by acting as we think their characters probably would, they save the movie from feeling like basic Hollywood action (even when it probably is). This is one of the year's best thrillers.

Washington Post Stephen Hunter

This unpretentious little bit of superior craftsmanship will be utterly mesmerizing to two kinds of people in particular: those who love cell phones and those who hate them.

Slate David Edelstein

A thriller that isn't kinky isn't much of a thriller. And Cellular has the best kinky phone gimmick since "Sorry, Wrong Number" (1948).

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

The 23-year-old Evans has been acting just four years, and his near-anonymity makes him well-cast: He's an Everyslacker breezing through life in Santa Monica, the kind of guy who could turn into a hero under the right circumstances or remain a zero the rest of his life.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

Very slick, very compelling and not nearly as predictable as it sounds.

Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek

Basinger's debasement in the early part of the film is unpleasant to watch, and it's an unsettling bump in the context of the entertaining sheen of the rest of the picture. So much of Cellular is right on the button. If only it hadn't gotten its wires crossed.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

Its adroit use of suspense makes you overlook the silliness.

The New York Times Dana Stevens

It's an honest, unpretentious, well-made B picture with a clever, silly premise, a handful of sly, unassuming performances and enough car chases, decent jokes and swervy plot complications to make the price of the ticket seem like a decent bargain.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Keith Phipps

The film works by putting the accelerator to the floor and never looking in the rear-view mirror.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

Chris Evans is blithely likable despite a few faux-Cruise mannerisms, Basinger makes a vividly frightened yet resourceful woman in peril, and William H. Macy scores as a mild L.A. cop who lets out his inner macho.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

It's mad, bad nonsense of the summer, popcorn variety, disposable but oh-so-much fun to endure, a roller coaster on a wobbly cinematic track.

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

A ludicrous little abduction thriller that boasts an entertaining cocktail of gunpowder, suspense, adrenaline, and cheese. I just couldn't hate this movie, and I really, really tried. It's tightly made and well written in deceptive ways that don't reveal themselves until past the halfway point.

USA Today Claudia Puig

A well-paced action film in the vein of "Speed."

Village Voice Michael Atkinson

Basinger takes her shuddery Stanwyckness very seriously, but everyone else has a ball.

Dallas Observer Luke Y. Thompson

If you can cast all semblance of logic aside, it's sort of fun.

LA Weekly Amy Nicholson

The whole thing skims along on suspension of disbelief.

Variety Robert Koehler

Because plot is the sum total here, the alarming holes, inconsistencies and impossibilities in Chris Morgan's script corrode this drama of distress.

The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt

Macy once again brightens an otherwise mundane character.

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

Slickly produced, well cast and very excitingly made, it's based on plot hooks so silly, most of them blow up in your face.

Chicago Reader Hank Sartin

Cohen and a crew of script doctors have thrown in some of the oldest cliches in the book.

New York Post Megan Lehmann

Basinger appears to be literally phoning in from another movie in the highly improbable, maniacally action-packed thriller-cum-comedy Cellular.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

That's not to say it isn't entertaining, only that the scenes which rely entirely on the fragile interplay between Jessica and Ryan suggest a more compelling movie that got lost in the welter of high-speed highway recklessness.

Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas

Illustrates what happens when a viable premise is spoiled by sheer preposterousness.

Miami Herald Connie Ogle

Entertaining in spite of itself.

Portland Oregonian Karen Karbo

What's truly disheartening about Cellular is that just as logic has become a luxury in a thriller, so has anything resembling tension.

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

As Ryan, Evans attempts to graduate from "Not Another Teen Movie"-type fare to more adult stuff. He holds his own, but he has no edge.

San Francisco Chronicle Ruthe Stein

Distressingly predictable and not a tad scary. But as a parody of the genre, it's a scream, like the "Scream'' franchise, only funnier. It's as if all the ingredients for a thriller coagulated into Silly Putty.

Film Threat Rick Kisonak

The movie crosses the line between offering mindless entertainment and insulting our intelligence.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen

Using a kidnapping plot to call up some old-fashioned suspense, it doesn't even get a dial tone.

The average user rating for this movie is 6.5 (out of 10) based on 30 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Michael D. gave it an8:
Good suspense, overall it was an alright movie.

G.M. D.K. gave it a7:
Forget logic in this film,you dont need it. Just sit back and enjoy the dumb story with an edge of your seat film.

Ryan M. gave it a9:
Action was well done, and the whole feel of the movie felt slick and well done. There was not a time where you felt uncaring for the characters, and did not worry about what would happen next. The attachment to the actors would keep you watch the rest of the way through.

tug gave it a7:
Pretty entertaining - every minute without Kim Bassinger gets an 8, every minute with Kim Bassinger gets a 3 - that averages to 7.

Bit Burn gave it a7:
Efficient action-thriller. Well acted. I liked that movie...It doesn't have the "Kill Bill" originality and raw humour I like but it's aiight.

Lillian M. gave it a10:
All i can say is.."are you ricky martin?!"

Lee F gave it a1:
The tension was annoying, and the action was laughable. Seeing the old retiring policeman diving about shooting baddies was hilarious. As a parody of the standard Hollywood action film it works quite well.

Cellular New Line Cinema

Cellular
New Line Cinema