Cellular ***½ (2004, Kim Basinger, Chris Evans, Jason Statham, William H Macy, Jessica Biel, Richard Burgi) – Classic Film Review 657

She’s in the attic! Kim Basinger is confined in an unknown attic, kidnapped at gunpoint by a nasty gang, led by an evil cop (Jason Statham), who smash the phone landline, in the 2004 thriller Cellular.

Director David R Ellis’s 2004 movie Cellular is a thoroughly expert, gripping and enjoyable action thriller, along Phone Booth lines. It has a story by that film’s writer Larry Cohen, but it effectively goes the route of keeping escapist action entertainment as the only objective.

Kim Basinger is ideal as high-school science teacher Jessica Martin, the woman in trouble after being abducted by a nasty gang, led by an evil cop, Detective Ethan Greer (Jason Statham), who are after a damaging tape and are threatening to kill her, as well her husband Craig (Richard Burgi) and their son Ricky (Adam Taylor Gordon), whom they have set off to find.

The intruders break into her house, kill her housekeeper, kidnap her at gunpoint and confine her in an unknown attic, smashing the phone landline. But the resourceful Jessica manages to use the wires of the broken, nearly-unusable phone to try to contact a number.

Basinger’s only hope is a hunky 20something called Ryan (Chris Evans), who reluctantly swings into action when she randomly dials his cell phone number on her smashed-up phone. Her mood is low and his battery is low.

Fast-moving, well-paced and quirky, Cellular mixes high anxiety with easy-going laughs to good effect. The neat acting ensemble finds room for William H Macy, in another one of his many amusing hangdog portraits, this time of a harassed cop called Sergeant Bob Mooney who helps the good guys out.

Although a long-cherished Larry Cohen project, Chris Morgan is credited as the writer of the screenplay and Larry Cohen for the story.

Cohen conceived it while working for Sony Pictures, whose then vice president Lauren Lloyd liked it but failed to pitch it to her fellow executives. She left Sony to produce it independently and sent the script to her producer colleague Dean Devlin. They hired screenwriter Chris Morgan, who sought to dump Cohen’s bitterness and cynicism and make ‘a story about how an everyday person can become heroic when faced with a certain set of trying circumstances’ with comical attributes of Indiana Jones.

Also in the cast are Jessica Biel, Noah Emmerich, Caroline Aaron, Rick Hoffman, Eric Christian Olsen, Robert Shaye, Matt McColm and Sean Smith.

The film was released on 10 September 2004 and grossed $57 million worldwide on a budget of $25 million.

David R Ellis also made Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco, Final Destination 2, Snakes on a Plane, Asylum, The Final Destination and Shark Night 3D. He died on 7 January 2013, aged 60.

Larry Cohen died on 23 March 2019, aged 82.

The cast are Kim Basinger as Jessica Martin, Chris Evans as Ryan, Jason Statham as Detective Ethan Greer, William H Macy as Sergeant Bob Mooney, Noah Emmerich as Detective Jack Tanner, Richard Burgi as Craig Martin, Valerie Cruz as Detective Dana Bayback, Jessica Biel as Chloe, Eric Christian Olsen as Chad, Adam Taylor Gordon as Ricky Martin, Caroline Aaron as Marilyn Mooney, Matt McColm as Detective Deason, Eric Etebari as Detective Dmitriy, Brendan Kelly as Mad Dog, Rick Hoffman, Robert Shaye, and Sean Smith.