The Cell is a visually stunning, artistically beautiful, and intellectually stimulating movie that shows what is possible if you take the best of Silence of the Lambs, The Matrix, and modern day technology. The tagline of Silence of the Lambs was, "The only way to stop a killer is by going in to the mind of a madman." How true that is for The Cell. It almost makes you wonder if there's anything new or exciting about this movie. Thankfully, there's more new here, including some visuals and special effects, than I could have ever hoped for.

Jennifer Lopez, after proving her acting merits in Out of Sight, stars as Catherine Deane, a psychologist who is experimenting with a new technology that lets her enter the psyche of another person - and exit at any time by pressing an implanted chip in her hand. She and her fellow scientists have been experimenting with this technology on Edward, a child who has been in a coma and whose parents hope to wake him up through this new form of psychology.

At the same time, a serial killer (Carl Stargher, played by Vincent D'Onofrio) is tormenting young women by locking them up in a small cell that slowly fills with water, eventually drowning them. FBI Agent Peter Novak (Vince Vaughn) has been following this case for years, and when Carl finally slips up, Agent Novak is able to crack the case and find him. The problem is, he's found in a severe coma, resulting from a rare type of schizophrenia, from which there is no way for him to wake up. Unfortunately, his next victim has already been placed in her cell (no pun intended), which is fully automatic and she will die in 40 hours.

So, we have a serial killer who is unwilling to tell where is victim is with a male FBI agent and a female investigator trying to find out where this victim is being held - Silence of the Lambs? While the plot is very thin within The Cell, it's not the plot that is expected to propel the film along - but rather the stunning visuals and amazing direction by first-time movie director Tarsem Singh. While Catherine is exploring the inner psyche of Edward, and eventually Carl, the movie really takes shape - not a very beautiful and invigorationg place, the inner psyche is twisted, dark, and terrifying place - it is whatever the host imagines it to be and you are whatever you imagine yourself to be.

Tarsem is able to weave all of the amazing visuals and the lacking plot into a very cohesive story that extremely entertaining and thought-provoking. More often than not, I found myself actually thinking not about the movie itself, but the images and visuals contained within. Rather than focusing solely on the surprises or explosions to startle the audience that have become de facto in most movies these days, Tarsem got into your mind through the images presented in the film and the fact that you actually have to "think." Leaving the film, you can't help but look back to the movie and remember the images you saw just a few minutes earlier.

As a script, The Cell probably was just another movie with a serial killer with some dream sequences - put into Tarsem's hands with the acting skills of Lopez, Vaughn and D'Onofrio - and The Cell rises above others of its genre. I've been waiting all summer for a movie to make me think. Last year, I only had two movies to achieve that effect - American Beauty and Magnolia. Hopefully there will be another one this year, but if there isn't, I'll be satisfied with just The Cell.

Genres: Horror, Thriller, Suspense
Rated: R - http://www.outermost.net/mra/images/thecell.gif
Runtime: 110 minutes
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