The Cell [Blu-ray]

Director: Tarsem Singh Tarsem Singh

Overview

In this science fiction thriller, child psychiatrist Catherine Deane (Jennifer Lopez) has developed a technique that allows her to travel through the minds of her patients. When Stargher (Vincent D'Onofrio), a multiple murderer who methodically drowns his victims and performs bizarre rituals with their bodies, falls into a coma, FBI agent Peter Novak (Vince Vaughn) asks Deane to enter the killer's psyche, in the hope of finding a missing girl whom Stargher has kidnapped; if she's not soon found, in all likelihood she'll die in his torture cell. However, once Deane enters the bizarre world of Stargher's mind, she finds getting out to be a very difficult matter. The Cell was the first feature from director Tarsem, who previously made award-winning commercials and music videos, including the video for R.E.M.'s "Losing My Religion." The supporting cast includes Catherine Sutherland, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Dylan Baker, and Pruitt Taylor Vince.

Product Details

Release Date:	07/07/2015
UPC:	0883929452514
Original Release:	2000
Rating:	R
Source:	New Line Home Video
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	1:49:00
Sales rank:	4,653

Special Features

Feature-length commentary: director; Feature-length commentary: production team; Original documentary Style as Substance: Reflections on Tarsem - several of Singh's collaborators reflect on his work; Visual-effects vignettes: an alternate-angle feature in which 6 special-effects sequences are explored; Deleted scenes; Trailers

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Jennifer Lopez	Catherine Deane
Vince Vaughn	Peter Novak
Vincent D'Onofrio	Carl Stargher
Marianne Jean-Baptiste	Dr. Miriam Kent
Jake Weber	Gordon Ramsey
Dylan Baker	Henry West
James Gammon	Teddy Lee
Patrick Bauchau	Lucien Baines
Tara Subkoff	Julia Hickson
Jake Thomas	Young Carl Stargher
Dean Norris	Cole
Catherine Sutherland	Anne Marie Vicksey
Musetta Vander	Ella Baines
Gerry Becker	Dr. Cooperman
Colton James	Edward Baines
Lauri Johnson	Mrs. Hickson
Kamar De Los Reyes	Officer Alexander
Christopher Janney	Swat Team Member
Nicholas Cascone	FBI Technician
Joe La Piana	FBI K-9 Agent
Pruitt Taylor Vince	Dr. Reid
Kim Chizevsky-Nicholls	Stargher's Victim
Jennifer Dawn Day	Stargher's Victim,Stargher's Victim
Alanna Vicente	Stargher's Victim
Aja Echols	Stargher's Victim
Vanessa Branch	Stargher's Victim
Elena Maddalo	Stargher's Victim
Gareth Williams	Stargher's Father
Glenda Chism	Woman in Tub
Monica Creel	Mother,Mother
Joy Creel Liefeld	Mother
Alan Purwin	Helicopter Pilot
Tim	Valentine
James Colton	Actor
Jack Conley	Agent Brock
Howard Shore	Composer

Technical Credits

Mark Protosevich

Tarsem Singh	Director
Mark Protosevich	Screenwriter
Julio Caro	Producer
Jack Gill	Stunts
Kevin Tod Haug	Special Effects
Ronna Kress	Casting
Donna Langley	Executive Producer
Carolyn Manetti	Executive Producer
Eric McLeod	Producer
Clay Pinney	Special Effects
John S. Baker	Special Effects
Stephen J. Ross	Producer
Tommy Turtle	Producer
Rick Canelli	Sound Effects
John P. Fasal	Sound Effects
James Thornton	Sound/Sound Designer
Eric McLoed	Producer

Editorial Reviews

In this tense sci-fi thriller debut from director Tarsem Singh (R.E.M.'s "Losing My Religion" music video), therapist Jennifer Lopez and FBI agent Vince Vaughn must traverse the deranged psyche of serial killer Vincent D'Onofrio. The mission is to find out where D'Onofrio has hidden his latest victim -- who is still living but facing a gruesome death. In this taut race against time, Singh brandishes tantalizing and lavish surrealist imagery to define the killer's mind, recalling influences ranging from Ken Russell's Altered States to the gothic puppet animation of the Brothers Quay. (On the Platinum Series DVD commentary tracks, Singh even singles out Michael Crichton's Coma as an influence!) D'Onofrio provides an eerily demented turn as Karl, a schizophrenic sexual deviant who is a god in his own mind, where, of course, super-therapist Lopez is an unwelcome visitor. The chemistry between Lopez and D'Onofrio is unsettling at its worst and terrifying at its best. In addition to Singh's audio commentaries on the DVD, there is also commentary from members of the production team, plus deleted scenes and an examination of the film's effects and production design. You can enter the dream state of The Cell and question its metaphors, but when the going gets horrific, remember to just tell yourself, "It's not real."

Barnes & Noble - Patricia Kim O'Cone

A box-office sleeper, The Cell (2000) puts a decidedly eerie spin on the oft-repeated serial killer crime-drama with a narrative device (the killer is in an irreversible coma and must be confronted through his dreams) that allows director Tarsem Singh to add numerous visual flourishes indicative of his background in music video. While not giving as assured a performance as she did in Out of Sight (1998), star Jennifer Lopez is adequate if not totally believable as a child psychiatrist, while Vince Vaughn and Vincent D'Onofrio are convincing in their roles as an obsessed FBI agent and a psychotic murderer, respectively. Where The Cell runs into problems is with its story, which fails to properly resolve several dangling plot threads, most notably the nascent physical attraction between the Lopez and Vaughn characters, which never amounts to anything, and the hinted-at but never revealed childhood traumas possibly suffered by Vaughn. A triumph of style over substance, The Cell cribs liberally from better psychological thrillers such as The Silence of the Lambs (1991) while remaining absorbing enough on a visceral level to hint at a rosy future for Singh.

All Movie Guide - Karl Williams

[Tarsem Sing] is a dextrous visual stylist, moving effortlessly from smooth, gleaming surfaces photographed in slow motion to grainy, slightly sped-up frames in the very same shot. You could say that The Cell has been production-designed within an inch of its life: Tom Foden sets a new standard in his field.

New York Times - Elvis Mitchell