The Cell

viewed September 6, 2000 at Sony Theaters  Full Details

I don't know whether to commend Tarsem Singh for attempting to infuse 40 years of contemporary art into a two-hour genre flick of exceptional visual achievement, or condemn him for making a film so derivative that not a single frame contains an original image or idea.  Most obviously, the film is a sad re-tread of the plot of Silence of the Lambs; most outrageously, it is a rip-off of the two big hits of last summer, The Matrix (for plugged-in, virtual reality special effects) and The Sixth Sense (for psychiatrist-enters-child's-hell plot). The rip-offs come from sources high and low -- and therein lies the fun: the film's website should provide a printable checklist for audiences to not only confirm off the ripped-off concepts as they find them, but to discover the ones they wouldn't have realized were borrowed.  If talented rap artists are required to list the samples they use on their CDs, what about talentless directors?  

That's too harsh -- Tarsem has tremendous technical abilities, and his visuals come through crystal clear.  What is missing is a meaningful concept driving this mayhem -- it's astounding that all of his referencing is to the service of a piece of pop escapism, one that involves gratuitous sado-masochistic gore and pointless perversity defended by perfunctory psychobabble.  It's a '90s movie cliche that the current decade could do without.  Nonetheless, I value this film as a way for both others and myself to bone up on the art we've been missing, from Matthew Barney to Damien Hirst.  It's a nexus for intertextual discourse, as we'd say back in college. With Jennifer Lopez doing less acting than looking good in her Disneyfied ethnic babe way, and Vince Vaughn doing nothing whatsoever.  Vincent D'Onofrio (the two Vinces resemble each other facially-- that may be the movie's biggest revelation) in stringy blond hair and a stuporous grin, manages a mean Philip Seymour Hoffman impression; otherwise he takes his formidable character acting talent and trashes it a la Gary Oldman.

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