Cellular
New Line Cinema | Release Date: September 10, 2004 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
60
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 29 Critic Reviews
Positive:
13
Mixed:
15
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
By occupying their roles believably, by acting as we think their characters probably would, they save the movie from feeling like basic Hollywood action (even when it probably is). This is one of the year's best thrillers. Read full review
80
SlateDavid Edelstein
A thriller that isn't kinky isn't much of a thriller. And Cellular has the best kinky phone gimmick since "Sorry, Wrong Number" (1948). Read full review
80
Washington PostStephen Hunter
This unpretentious little bit of superior craftsmanship will be utterly mesmerizing to two kinds of people in particular: those who love cell phones and those who hate them. Read full review
75
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
Very slick, very compelling and not nearly as predictable as it sounds. Read full review
75
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
The 23-year-old Evans has been acting just four years, and his near-anonymity makes him well-cast: He's an Everyslacker breezing through life in Santa Monica, the kind of guy who could turn into a hero under the right circumstances or remain a zero the rest of his life. Read full review
70
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Its adroit use of suspense makes you overlook the silliness. Read full review
70
The New York TimesDana Stevens
It's an honest, unpretentious, well-made B picture with a clever, silly premise, a handful of sly, unassuming performances and enough car chases, decent jokes and swervy plot complications to make the price of the ticket seem like a decent bargain. Read full review
70
SalonStephanie Zacharek
Basinger's debasement in the early part of the film is unpleasant to watch, and it's an unsettling bump in the context of the entertaining sheen of the rest of the picture. So much of Cellular is right on the button. If only it hadn't gotten its wires crossed. Read full review
70
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
The film works by putting the accelerator to the floor and never looking in the rear-view mirror. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Chris Evans is blithely likable despite a few faux-Cruise mannerisms, Basinger makes a vividly frightened yet resourceful woman in peril, and William H. Macy scores as a mild L.A. cop who lets out his inner macho. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
It's mad, bad nonsense of the summer, popcorn variety, disposable but oh-so-much fun to endure, a roller coaster on a wobbly cinematic track. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
A ludicrous little abduction thriller that boasts an entertaining cocktail of gunpowder, suspense, adrenaline, and cheese. I just couldn't hate this movie, and I really, really tried. It's tightly made and well written in deceptive ways that don't reveal themselves until past the halfway point. Read full review
63
USA TodayClaudia Puig
A well-paced action film in the vein of "Speed." Read full review
60
VarietyRobert Koehler
Because plot is the sum total here, the alarming holes, inconsistencies and impossibilities in Chris Morgan's script corrode this drama of distress. Read full review
60
L.A. WeeklyAmy Nicholson
The whole thing skims along on suspension of disbelief. Read full review
60
Village VoiceMichael Atkinson
Basinger takes her shuddery Stanwyckness very seriously, but everyone else has a ball. Read full review
60
Dallas ObserverLuke Y. Thompson
If you can cast all semblance of logic aside, it's sort of fun. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
Macy once again brightens an otherwise mundane character. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
Slickly produced, well cast and very excitingly made, it's based on plot hooks so silly, most of them blow up in your face. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderHank Sartin
Cohen and a crew of script doctors have thrown in some of the oldest cliches in the book. Read full review
50
New York PostMegan Lehmann
Basinger appears to be literally phoning in from another movie in the highly improbable, maniacally action-packed thriller-cum-comedy Cellular. Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
That's not to say it isn't entertaining, only that the scenes which rely entirely on the fragile interplay between Jessica and Ryan suggest a more compelling movie that got lost in the welter of high-speed highway recklessness. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
Illustrates what happens when a viable premise is spoiled by sheer preposterousness. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldConnie Ogle
Entertaining in spite of itself. Read full review
50
Portland OregonianKaren Karbo
What's truly disheartening about Cellular is that just as logic has become a luxury in a thriller, so has anything resembling tension. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
As Ryan, Evans attempts to graduate from "Not Another Teen Movie"-type fare to more adult stuff. He holds his own, but he has no edge. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleRuthe Stein
Distressingly predictable and not a tad scary. But as a parody of the genre, it's a scream, like the "Scream'' franchise, only funnier. It's as if all the ingredients for a thriller coagulated into Silly Putty. Read full review
50
Film ThreatRick Kisonak
The movie crosses the line between offering mindless entertainment and insulting our intelligence. Read full review
25
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
Using a kidnapping plot to call up some old-fashioned suspense, it doesn't even get a dial tone. Read full review
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