Cellular

This topic contains:

• overall comments and recommendations
• details about Cellular's classification and consumer advice lines
• a review of Cellular completed by Young Media Australia (YMA) on February 9 2005.

Overall comments and recommendations

Cellular is a drama / thriller which contains frequent strong violence towards men, women and young children and reckless, life-endangering use of vehicles. It would appeal to many adults and adolescents, probably catering more to a male audience. It is fast paced and well-made with a high level of tension that entertains the viewer from start to finish, some well-placed jokes and witty humour. The quality of acting is good, with believable performances and fast paced stunts. However, it is not a film for people who do not enjoy portrayals of violence or terror.

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC) and the associated consumer advice lines.

YMA review

This review of the movie Cellular contains the following information:

• a synopsis of the story
• use of violence
• material that may scare children
• product placement
• sexual references
• nudity and sexual activity
• use of substances
• coarse language
• the movie's message

A synopsis of the story

The film begins with Jessica Martin (Kim Basinger) walking her son to his school bus stop. Shortly after Jessica arrives back at her home, five men enter her house by smashing down the back door with a sledge-hammer, shoot Jessica's house maid in the back and kidnap Jessica.

Jessica is imprisoned in the attic of a house at an out of the way location. While Jessica is surveying her surroundings, a kidnapper bursts through the door with a sledge-hammer and smashes into a hundred pieces the one and only phone in the attic. From the smashed phone on the floor Jessica hears a faint dial tone, and after a number of failed attempts she manages to connect enough wires to make a random connection. The connection is to a cell phone owned by Ryan, a self-centred, apathetic, surfer type, who cruises Santa Monica Pier using his cell phone to film bikini clad women. After Ryan initially mocks Jessica's pleas for help, he agrees to go to the nearest police station and hand his phone over to the police. However, a series of unfortunate events prevents him doing this and instead he finds himself speeding to Jessica's son's school to prevent him from being kidnapped.

The rest of the film becomes a non-stop race against time across Los Angeles as Ryan and Los Angeles police officer Sergeant Bob Mooney battle low cell phone batteries, obnoxious lawyers, traffic jams and interrupted cell phone signals in an effort to beat the kidnappers to their intended targets.

Use of violence

Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.

Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.

Violent acts were portrayed throughout the film and kidnappers are extremely threatening, ruthless and vicious, particularly their leader Ethan, (Jason Statham). In general the film shows the physical real life consequences associated with the direct use of physical violence, such as physical injuries. However, it did not necessarily portray the emotional effects resulting from violent acts.

Examples of violence included:

• the kidnappers shoot Jessica's housekeeper in the back execution style
• Ethan pins Jessica against a wooden post by tying a leather belt around her neck and the post
• the kidnappers threaten to kill Jessica's son in front of her unless she meets their demands
• the kidnappers threaten to cut the boy's throat if Ryan did not meet their demands.
• the kidnappers viciously beat Jessica's husband leaving him with a battered and bruised face
• Ethan threatens to kill Jessica in front of her husband, “I'll blow her brains all over you right now”
• Ethan often head-butts his victims in both a ruthless and vicious manner, showing that he takes great pleasure in doing so
• the kidnappers ruthlessly execute a number of drug dealers, by shooting them in the head while they are lying on the ground with their hands tied behind their backs.
• Jessica kills one of the kidnappers using a piece of broken glass to sever a major artery; she leaves him to bleed to death.
• Ryan slams one of the kidnapper's face into the dashboard and repeatedly slams the car door against his head.
• there are several car chases which result in numerous car accidents and pile ups although no injuries are shown
• while male characters dominated the use of violence, Jessica did on a number of occasions employ violence and was successful.

Material that may scare children

Under eight

Children under eight are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations, the death of a parent or child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.

Most, if not all, of the above-mentioned violent acts would scare children under the age of eight years, and may possibly be psychologically harmful, specifically the acts of violence against Jessica and her family. The violence is frequent, and very graphic and vicious in nature.

Aged eight to thirteen

Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened.

The violence in Cellular is vicious, ruthless and realistic, chiefly targeting a mother, her son and the boy's father. As such, it could still scare or disturb children between the ages of eight and thirteen years.

Over the age of thirteen

Children over the age of thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic physical harm or threats, molestation or sexual assault and / or threats from aliens or the occult.

Children over the age of thirteen years are better equipped to distinguish appearance from reality than younger children, and therefore less likely to be scared by the violent acts in the film. However, due to the viciousness of the violence and its frequency, its ability to scare or psychologically affect younger adolescents should not be discounted.

Product placement

Cellular includes considerable product placement for cellular phones made by the Nokia. On several occasions a video cell phone with the brand name Nokia fills the entire screen. Verbal reference was also made to a number of technical aspects of the phone.

Sexual references

A number of sexual references, mainly in jest, were made throughout the film. For example:

• a man talking to a woman wearing a sheer, tightly fitting top that displays her erect nipples, makes the comment, “Is it chilly out here?”
• the same woman is referred to later as “the girl with nipples”
• a man wearing a Blue Whale promotional costume states to a group of passing girls “do you know that a Blue Whale's got an eleven foot penis”
• a man talking about his car states “it can take a girl's panties down in 3.5 seconds”.

Nudity and sexual activity

No nudity was shown, however several scenes showed women wearing skimpy revealing swim suits.

In one scene, Jessica was attacked by one of the kidnappers in a way that suggested he was going to sexually abuse her and then kill her. The scene showed the man forcing himself on Jessica before she managed to push him off.

Use of substances

There is no use of substances.

Coarse language

Medium level coarse language was used throughout the film. Examples included:

• bullshit
• shit
• screw this
• bitch
• dickhead
• cocky little piece of shit

The movie's message

The film has the obvious message of crime doesn't pay and that good triumphs over evil. Other take home messages include the transformation of Ryan from a lazy, self-centred jerk, to a man with qualities of steadfastness, empathy and trustfulness, risking his life for a woman he has never seen or met. Also, Jessica is presented as a superhero who displays incredible strength to protect her family. Not only does she manage to emotionally keep herself together, but fights off a sexual attack, uses her wits to kill one of the kidnappers and escapes to free her son.

Parents may with to encourage values displayed by Ryan, such as empathy, selflessness and resourcefulness and Jessica's display of sacrifice and selflessness in protecting her family.

Parents may wish to discuss the nature and type of violence displayed in this film, and the likely physical and emotional effects on its victims. Parents should be aware of the possible influence that the film's continuous use of Nokia mobile phone products may have on adolescent viewers, and discuss how advertising of this type can influence people to purchase and use the advertised product.