Cellular (film)

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Cellular
Cellular poster.JPG
Theatrical film poster
Directed by David R. Ellis
Produced by Dean Devlin
Lauren Lloyd
Screenplay by Chris Morgan
Uncredited:
J. Mackye Gruber
Story by Larry Cohen
Starring Kim Basinger
Chris Evans
Jason Statham
William H. Macy
Music by John Ottman
Cinematography Gary Capo
Edited by Eric Sears
Production
company
Distributed by New Line Cinema
Release dates
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  • September 10, 2004 (2004-09-10)
Running time
 94 minutes
Country United States
Germany
Language English
Budget $25 million[1]
Box office $56.4 million[1]

Cellular is a 2004 American action crime thriller film directed by David R. Ellis and starring Jason Statham, Kim Basinger, Chris Evans, and William H. Macy. The screenplay was written by Chris Morgan, Larry Cohen, and J. Mackye Gruber (not credited).[2]

Plot

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Jessica Martin (Kim Basinger), a high school biology teacher, takes her son Ricky to the school bus. After she returns home, assailants enter her home kill her housemaid, kidnap her, and confine her in the attic of their safe house. Ethan Greer (Jason Statham), the group leader, smashes the attic's telephone to prevent her from contacting anyone. Not knowing of her kidnapper's identity and purpose, Jessica uses the wires of the broken phone and randomly dials a number. She reaches the cell phone of Ryan (Chris Evans), a carefree young man who has just been dumped by his girlfriend, Chloe (Jessica Biel).

Ryan believes the call is a joke, but Jessica pleads him not to hang up and persuades him to go to the police. At the police station, Desk Sergeant Mooney (William H. Macy) redirects him to the detectives on the fourth floor. In the stairwell, he begins to lose the signal and has to turn back to avoid losing connection. Ethan returns to the safe house and asks Jessica about something. When Jessica tells him that she doesn't know, he leaves to get her son. Overhearing them, Ryan realizes how serious the situation is. After Ethan leaves, on Jessica's behest, Ryan get to Ricky's school, only to see the boy kidnapped. He hijacks a security officer's car and gives chase.

Ryan stops at a shop to buy a charger for the phone's dying battery. Frustrated at being repeatedly redirected, he uses the gun from the security vehicle to hold up the store and get the charger. Sergeant Mooney, meanwhile, decides to check on the kidnapping claim. He uses the Department of Motor Vehicles records to find Jessica's address. When he comes to her house, a woman meets him, telling him that she is Jessica and everything is fine. Believing it to be a false alarm, he leaves. It is revealed that the woman is Dana Bayback (Valerie Cruz), an accomplice of the kidnappers. Ethan returns to the safe house and asks Jessica for the location of a place called "The Left Field", where her husband, Craig, was. He reveals that he has Ricky and threatens to kill him if Jessica does not tell him what it means. She tells him that "The Left Field" is a bar at the Los Angeles International Airport.

As Ethan leaves, Jessica tells Ryan that they have gone to get her husband. A cross-connection between phone lines causes Ryan to rob a nearby lawyer's cell phone and car. Ryan gets to the airport and tries to stop the kidnappers by planting the gun on one of them. The gun trips the alarm and security intervenes, but the kidnappers flash police badges and apprehend Craig. Ryan and Jessica realize that Ethan and his gang are police officers. After viewing a news report of a man holding up a store for a charger but overpaying in the process, Mooney identifies Ryan and calls Jessica's home. When he hears the voicemail greeting, he notices that the voice on the answering machine is different from that of the woman he met.

Craig is brought into the attic and is forced to reveal the location of a videotape. He tells them that it is in a bank safe deposit box. Ethan and his friends, Dimitri (Eric Etebari) and Deason (Matt McColm), go with Craig while another kidnapper stands guard. Ryan reaches deposit box first, grabs the video camera and flees to the roof. He manages to escape in a taxi, but drops the lawyer's cellphone in the process. He watches the videotape and learns that Craig accidentally recorded LAPD Detective Ethan, Mad Dog, Dimitri, Bayback, Deason, and Jack Tanner (a friend of Mooney's) robbing and murdering drug dealers.

Ryan steals the lawyer's car from the impound lot and manages to retrieve his own cell phone. Mooney returns to the Martin residence, where Bayback injures him. He kills her in self defense and learns that she is also a cop. Back at the safe house, a kidnapper learns that Jessica has been trying to contact help. He heads upstairs and attacks her, but Jessica cuts his brachial artery, causing him to bleed to death. She attempts to escape with her son, but Ethan returns with Craig and stops her. Before Ethan can do anything, Ryan contacts him and makes a deal: the videotape in exchange for the Martin family.

Learning of the meeting at the Santa Monica Pier, Tanner convinces Mooney to go so he can identify Ryan. Ryan tries to disguise himself, but is inadvertently exposed by Chloe and identified by Mooney. Tanner sends Mooney away for medical attention, and takes Ryan to Ethan. After Ethan destroys the video recording, Tanner radios the order to kill the Martins. Mooney overhears the radio transmission and returns to the pier. Ryan escapes, following a distraction by his friend Chad (Eric Christian Olsen); Mooney overpowers Dimitri and handcuffs him on the stairs. Tanner and Ethan confront Ryan in a boathouse, where Ryan knocks out Tanner, but Ethan beats him up until Mooney intervenes. After a brief chase, Ryan notices that Ethan has circled behind Mooney, and helps Mooney by calling Ethan's cell phone. The ring of the cell betrays Ethan's position, and Mooney promptly shoots him to death.

On the van, Jessica manages to strangle Deason with her handcuff chain, then frees her husband and son. However, Deason was merely stunned, and aims his gun at them. Ryan intervenes and knocks Deason unconscious. While Ryan and Mooney are being treated by medics, Tanner is also exposed, because Ryan had copied the video recording onto his cell phone, and the Martin family is set free. Jessica finally meets Ryan, the man who has risked his life saving her family.

Cast

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Production

Cellular was filmed in Southern California, Santa Monica, Westwood, Los Angeles, Downtown Los Angeles, and West Los Angeles.[3]

Soundtrack

Cellular (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
File:Cellular cdcover.jpg
Soundtrack album by John Ottman
Released October 5, 2004
Genre Electronic, Stage & Screen
Length 56:52
Label La-La Land Records LLLCD 1025
John Ottman chronology
Gothika (2003)String Module Error: Match not foundString Module Error: Match not found Cellular
(2004)		 Lonely Place
(2004)Lonely Place2004

The soundtrack for the movie was composed by John Ottman and released on October 5, 2004 via La-La Land Records label.[4][5]

Track listing

No. Title Length
1. "Opening / Abduction"   3:09
2. "Going Shopping"   3:35
3. "Making A Connection"   2:20
4. "The Bait"   3:08
5. "Mooneyґs Curious"   1:22
6. "Freeing Ricky"   4:05
7. "Schoolґs Out"   4:23
8. "Weґre Going To Die"   2:11
9. "LAX"   4:21
10. "Epiphany / The Bank"   4:04
11. "The Pier"   4:10
12. "Lost Connection / Dirty Cops"   4:44
13. "Hot Porsche / Simply Biology"   3:37
14. "Police Station"   4:01
15. "Fake Out"   2:12
16. "Shoot Out"   5:42
17. "Sinnerman (Felix da Housecat's Heavenly House Mix)"   3:36

Reception

Box office

The film has had gross receipts of $32,003,620 in the U.S. and Canada and $24,419,067 in international markets for a total of $56,422,687 worldwide.

Critical response

Cellular received an approval rating of 55% on Rotten Tomatoes. Entertainment Weekly called the film "pure chase-thriller excitement",[6] and Claudia Puig of USA Today called it a "well-paced action film in the vein of Speed". Roger Ebert called it "one of the year's best thrillers". [7]

Kim Basinger was nominated for a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress but lost to Daryl Hannah in Kill Bill Vol. 2.[citation needed]

Home media

A novelization of the film was written by Pat Cadigan and released in October, 2004 by Black Flame. Cellular was released on DVD along with the VHS format on January 18, 2005. The film was released on Blu-ray on July 17, 2012.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=Cellular.htm
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Cellular Filming Locations
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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