30 Second Bottom Line: A doctor enters the mind of a serial killer who is in a coma, hoping to find the location of his latest victim before she dies. He first kidnaps, then mentally tortures his victims before killing them.
Story Line: Catherine (Jennifer Lopez), a psychiatrist, is frustrated with her progress as are the parents of a young boy in solving the puzzle of his mental illness. With the assistance of team member Dr. Kent (Marianne Jean-Baptiste), Catherine is able to enter the mind of the boy. Carl (Vincent D'Onofrio) is a serial killer, who first kidnaps women, and then kills them in a glass jail cell. Using a computer to control equipment, he fills the cell with water, until the victim drowns. FBI agent Peter (Vince Vaughn) catches Carl, fortunately before the water filling process has started on Julia, the latest victim.
Since Carl is in a coma, he is not able to tell them of Julia's location. Catherine agrees to make the journey into Carl's mind. Things get scary when she has trouble coming back. It's sort of like the trip taken in Contact by Jody Foster, except this is one way. On this mind trip, Catherine meets Carl both as a boy and as an adult. As an adult, Carl is the personification of insanity and evil all wrapped into one. He can give the devil a run for his money. However, as a boy, he is fragile, and Catherine believes she can find a clue to the Julia's location by talking to Carl as a young boy.
Tell Me More About It: One thing that elevates The Cell above prior serial killer movies is that it really provides some insight into a crazed mind. In American Psycho, the killer becomes what he is because of distorted values related to money, and the trappings of power associated with good looks and big deals. Seven touches upon an evil mind, yet the focus is on the result rather than the cause.
Catherine's first patient is a boy with a mental illness caused naturally. Her work with him provides the background to go into the mind of a clearly evil person, such as Carl. With both the boy and Carl we see how they view the world today, and experience some events from their childhood. Traumatic events create the mental illness and set up further damage within the brain. It's as if a child's physical abuse can be like taking the brakes off a train already on a downward slope.
The trips inside the mind of Carl are otherworldly, and scary because it does not seem to be far-fetched. The Cell is a bright movie about a dark subject. The special effects are on par with Hollow Man and thankfully here, they provide a foundation for a movie that has something to say, that makes us think. Had this been a French film, the fate of Julia in the cell would not have been so predictable. At times predictability is fine, but not when so much fresh material is presented in the same movie. The Cell is far better than most serial killer films, and with the possible exception of the ending it might be a classic. A happy ending is not necessarily the best ending, and I'll end on that note.
Mini Filmography
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