The Cell

Any way you look at it, The Cell (2000) in an odd conglomeration of talent.  The feature directing debut of attempted auteur Tarsem Singh paired with rising stars Jennifer Lopez and Vince Vaughn in a Seven-inspired sci-fi procedural with showstopping costumes designed by Eiko Ishioka (Bram Stoker’s Dracula) and an unsettling score from Howard Shore that echoes his work on the grand-daddy of all modern serial killer films, The Silence of the Lambs.  All that talent makes for an oddly compelling film…but one that’s never quite as unique as it thinks it is.

A social worker turned mind-whisperer, Catherine (Lopez) finds herself electronically inserted into the mind of a schizophrenic (Vincent D’Onofrio) in order to extract the information on his latest victim trapped in a cell that will fill with water in 24 hours.  Peter (Vaughn) is the hand-wringing detective whose only hope is that Catherine can survive the hostile dreamworld his comatose suspect has created inside a psyche twisted from childhood trauma.

The Cell is full of stunning visuals, from dramatic opening desert vistas to the cavernous funhouse designs unleashed once Catherine jacks in from her modern-art lab.  And Singh directs the hell out of all of it; even the real-world investigation scenes have an appealing off-kilter texture while Howard Shore’s cacophonous music is given free rein to match the surreal events on screen.  But it’s all in the service of a rather bland ticking-clock story full of the serial killer tropes we’ve seen one too many times (seriously, Barbie should make a line of dolls specifically meant to be disfigured). And the casting of Lopez and Vaughn, neither of whom embarrass themselves here, is one of those six degrees situations that only comes up in obscure bar trivia. If one can disregard those flaws – and it’s not too much of an ask with all that cinematic eye candy – The Cell makes for a pleasantly strange title to pull off the early 2000’s shelf.

 Arrow is releasing this one in two different sets: a limited-edition Blu-ray and 4K UHD.  The new restoration will probably push most fans to the latter, but even the Blu comes with a great mix of old and new extras, including two new commentaries, a feature-length interview with Singh and another with DP Paul Laufer, two visual essays and everything from the previous release.  Speaking of which, the Director’s Cut, which was what ended up in the initial Blu-ray, is accompanied here for the first time by the slightly shorter Theatrical Cut which removes some sexual shenanigans and sports a different aspect ratio and color grading.  Also included but not available for review is a collector’s book and special packaging.

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