| 100 |
Chicago Sun-Times
It's one of the best films of the year.
|
| 83 |
Portland Oregonian
Something of an unforgettable experience.
|
| 75 |
New York Daily News
Disturbing, visually stunning thriller.
|
| 70 |
Rolling Stone
Tarsem uses the dramatically shallow plot to create a dream world densely packed with images of beauty and terror that cling to the memory even if you don't want them to.
|
| 63 |
Boston Globe
Many of the film's images will prove more than some viewers can take.
|
| 63 |
Philadelphia Inquirer
Has its effectively nasty, chilling moments -- and it also brings body piercing to new heights of ickiness.
|
| 63 |
Baltimore Sun
The Cell is eye candy - but it could give your brain a bad case of indigestion.
|
| 63 |
Chicago Tribune
Impresses more than it entertains.
|
| 60 |
Mr. Showbiz
Repetitive, aimless, and as frustrating as you'd imagine any two-hour music video to be.
|
| 60 |
TV Guide
The costumes are phenomenal, the set design ravishing and the sadistic inventiveness extraordinary.
|
| 60 |
Village Voice
Not nearly the mindfuck it wants to be.
|
| 58 |
Entertainment Weekly
The Cell is foremost about singular imagery, a succession of still pictures strung together frame by frame.
|
| 50 |
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Visually impressive but exceedingly unpleasant little nail-biter.
|
| 50 |
Christian Science Monitor
The action is as grisly as it is surrealistic.
|
| 50 |
TNT RoughCut
A must-see movie, simply for its awe-inspiring production values, but you'll feel nothing but punished by Tarsem's ghoulish parade of images.
|
| 50 |
New York Post
Generic variation on the overworked serial-killer genre.
|
| 50 |
Miami Herald
A high-tech freak show, a gallery of grotesqueries that are fascinating and repellent.
|
| 50 |
The New York Times
Mr. Singh may have an artist's temperament, and he shows signs of being a director
|
| 40 |
Film.com
What makes The Cell worth viewing at all is the carefully sculpted imagery.
|
| 40 |
Washington Post
Riveting in its low way. It traffics in imagery profoundly disturbing.
|
| 38 |
USA Today
There's so little action or suspense that this Cell isn't too likely to multiply itself into a sequel.
|
| 30 |
Film.com
Visually stunning but emotionally shallow.
|
| 30 |
Variety
A slender story that's not particularly suspenseful or involving, resulting in a movie that's a feast to the eye but not much for the intellect.
|
| 30 |
LA Weekly
Jennifer Lopez's butt? Alas, the moment is over all too soon; the movie, sadly, is not.
|
| 30 |
Austin Chronicle
It's a pleasure to watch, but I found myself wondering if having a story here even mattered to the director at all.
|
| 25 |
San Francisco Examiner
It's mesmerizing nonetheless for its flagrant disregard for narrative, character, pacing, performance and good lighting.
|
| 20 |
Chicago Reader
Almost no plot here and even less character--just a lot of pretexts for S-M imagery, Catholic decor, gobs of gore, and the usual designer schizophrenia.
|
| 20 |
Salon.com
If The Cell were six minutes long it would blow your mind. At two hours, it's a disordered muddle of hellacious highs and pedestrian lows.
|
| 20 |
Dallas Observer
Disappointing only because its best moments are transcendent; its worst moments, sadly, are just so ordinary.
|
| 20 |
Slate
Serves up some of the most gruesomely misogynistic imagery in years, then ends with a bid for understanding. Are its makers so deluded that they think they're making the world a more compassionate place?
|
| 0 |
Los Angeles Times
Some movies make you sorry you've seen them, and The Cell is one of those. Creepy and horrific, it's a torture chamber film.
|
| 0 |
San Francisco Chronicle
Any way you slice it, it is still pointless.
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