Schizoid serial killer Carl Stargher (Vincent D'Onofrio) has been captured at last, but a neurological seizure has rendered him comatose, and FBI agent Peter Novak (Vince Vaughan) has no way to determine the location of Stargher's latest and still-living victim. To probe the secrets contained in Stargher's traumatized psyche, the FBI recruits psychologist Catherine Deane (Jennifer Lopez), who has mastered a new technology that allows her to enter the mind of another person. What she finds in Stargher's head is a theater of the grotesque, which, as envisioned by first-time director Tarsem Singh, is a smorgasbord of the surreal that borrows liberally from the Brothers Quay, Czech animator Jan Svankmajer, Hieronymous Bosch, Salvador Dali, and a surplus of other cannibalized sources.
This provides one of the wildest, weirdest visual feasts ever committed to film, and
i The Cell
i0 earns a place among such movie mind-trips as
i 2001: A Space Odyssey
i0 ,
i Altered States
i0 ,
i What Dreams May Come
i0 , and
i Un Chien Andalou
i0 . Is this a good thing? Sure, if all you want is freakazoid eye-candy. If you're looking for emotional depth, substantial plot, and artistic coherence,
i The Cell
i0 is sure to disappoint. The pop-psychology pablum of Mark Protosevich's screenplay would be laughable if it weren't given such somber significance, and Singh's exploitative use of sadomasochistic imagery is repugnant (this movie makes
i Seven
i0 look tame), so you're better off marveling at the nightmare visions that are realized with astonishing potency.
i The Cell
i0 is too shallow to stay in your head for long, but while it's there, it's one hell of a show.
i --Jeff Shannon
i0