Singh is good; The Cell is not

Until 2 nights ago, I did not know that a movie entitled The Cell even existed.  As I chatted with a friend over dinner, wine, and Shark Week (one of these things is not like the others), our conversation topic turned to the movies she owns that I hadn't seen. She described The Cell as a disturbing but "visually arresting" film.  After seeing it, I can agree whole-heartedly that the movie is, indeed, visually arresting (it is artistically acclaimed director Tarsem Singh, after all) but its flaws keep it from hitting the truly disturbing mark for which it aims.

Taking on the depiction of the human mind, not to mention the psychotic human mind, is an almost impossible mission. Yet Singh completes his quest by beautifully, artistically, and often grotesquely drawing us into the brutal subconscious of a serial killer. Had the entire movie taken place within these creative images, I would have loved it. I will not even attempt to describe the visual richness of those scenes to you; it's something you just have to see and experience for yourself (if you so desire after reading the rest of this post).

However, and quite unfortunately, the movie does not remain in the killer's subconscious and, every time I was taken out of this imaginative world and thrown back into "reality," I was forced to notice the mediocre acting of Jennifer Lopez and Vince Vaughn, the not-at-all clever writing, the characters I didn't give a rat's ass about, and the script that had at least 3 places it should have ended before it actually did. Not to mention the fact that the actual ending seemed out of place for such a visual, suspenseful movie.

Overall, I wouldn't recommend this movie to just anyone.  While it is artistically amazing, it is also quite graphic and sexual. And if you are at all visually sensitive or prone to nightmares - this is NOT the movie for you.  But if you want to see an example of true, haunting artistic direction - grab a copy of The Cell, sit back, ignore the bad writing and acting, and enjoy some awesome images.