Lopez is hard to take as the empathetic psychologist who uses a synaptic transfer machine to penetrate the comatose killer's tortured psyche in hopes of finding his latest victim.
Comment
02/09/06
The Cell (2000)
45
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted:139
Fresh:63
Rotten:76
Average Rating:5.2/10
Consensus: The Cell offers disturbing, stunning eye candy, but it is undermined by a weak and shallow plotline that offers nothing new.
Runtime: 1 hr 47 mins
Genre: Science-Fiction/Fantasy
Synopsis: A wild ride inside the mind of a serial killer, THE CELL is a movie that leads viewers on a strange visual and psychological journey. Catherine Deane (Jennifer Lopez) is a child therapist working... [More]
Starring: Jennifer Lopez, Vince Vaughn, Vincent D'Onofrio, Marianne Jean-Baptiste
Director: Tarsem Singh
Reviews for The Cell
Top CriticWith little room for either narrative detail or character development, Tarsem's exploration of a deranged mind soon loses momentum.
12/02/02
This movie is bad in so many ways that it’s difficult to know where to begin.
10/30/02
All the clever visual effects in the world can't hide the fact that this is just a nasty piece about women in torment.
12/10/01
What does it say about a film when you come out going "well, it looked pretty nice"? Not much, in this reviewer's opinion.
01/01/00
Top CriticThe Cell is a horror film that knows what it means to be horrifying.
01/01/00
Though at times beautiful and always disturbing, this is strangely devoid of meaning.
01/01/00
Top CriticThe dream sequences are so well-done that it’s easy to forgive the film’s lack of dramatic punch.
08/07/08
Lopez wades through many nonsensical, pompous, gradually annoying dream-logic scenes.
09/24/07
What could have been a by-the-numbers serial killer mystery becomes a beautiful tour de force of film magic.
07/14/07
Visually stunning, but rather pedestrian.
12/31/05
It's excellent.
12/06/05
Tarsem uses the dramatically shallow plot to create a dream world densely packed with images of beauty and terror that cling to the memory even if you don't want them to.
03/07/05
It's not the villain but the director who seems most interested in these grisly spectacles. He was certainly uninterested in his characters.
01/15/05
The Cell may be another repellent serial killer movie, but at least it tries something different.
01/07/05
The cop/serial killer part of the story (written by Mark Protosevich) offers absolutely nothing of interest.
06/24/03
Writer Mark Protosevich and director Tarsem Singh, both making their feature debut, have crafted the year's first masterpiece, an insanely ambitious movie that miraculously fulfills every one of its ambitions.
05/22/03
This is a mind-bending acid trip of a movie -- fresh, disturbing and inimitable.
05/14/03
D'Onofrio proves that his performance as the bug-wearing-an-Edgar-suit in Men in Black was no fluke.
02/08/03
An amazing, courageous, and thoroughly dark visualization of what the inside of a deeply troubled mind might look like.
01/10/03
Latest News for The Cell
October 03, 2008:
Exclusive: The Fall - Tarsem's Visual Companion - Part 1
Its otherworldly story split critics down the middle, but none can argue with the power of its imagery. Opening in the UK this week, Tarsem's The Fall is one of the year's most... More...
June 14, 2007:
Another Superhero Movie! "Thor" is Coming!
He's a Norse god with a giant hammer. Bring on the bad guys! More...
December 01, 2006:
The Weekly Ketchup: A Third "Starship Troopers," Jack Black Collaborates With Michel Gondry, Tension Between Fox And Marvel Over "X-Men," And More!
In this week's Ketchup, the campy classic "Starship Troopers" may finally get a proper successor with Casper Van Dien returning for "Starship Troopers 3"... More...
September 25, 2006:
Toronto Wrapup: Senh, Jen And Tim's Raves And Rants From The Festival
We saw some great movies, some of them big ("Babel") and some tiny ("The Patterns Trilogy"). We saw some interesting failures ("The Banquet") and... More...
What’s Hot On RT
Other News
Fresh Links
Featured
RT on YouTube 
Subscribe to RT's YouTube channel and don't miss a second of our cracking video content.
RT on Twitter
Follow Rotten Tomatoes and join us as we tweet about the week's releases.
IGN RSS Feeds