Movie Review - Cell

Cell (2016)

John Cusack, Samuel L. Jackson, Isabelle Fuhrman, Owen Teague, and Stacy Keach

Directed by Tod Williams

Since I'd read Stephen King's book, I figured I'd give the cinematic adaptation of Cell a try, but it's lack of theatrical release beyond a theater or two certainly didn't instill confidence in its quality...and a viewing of the film showed that the quality simply wasn't there.  The tale of a bizarre epidemic that turns anyone who uses a cell phone into zombie-like creatures could've been a telling take on our electronics-reliant culture, but this piece co-written by King himself isn't the least bit bitingly relevant nor horrifically scary.  In fact, the only thing horrific about it is the hugely incapable direction by Tod Williams who takes moments that could be frightening and ruins them with flourishes of weirdly unnecessary slow motion or inadequately timed jump scares.  Most of the cast is fine, but John Cusack as a father desperately searching for his son in the midst of the chaos couldn't be less emotionally invested it seems -- which is odd seeing as how he's a producer of this.  This one's just a waste of time.

The RyMickey Rating:  D