Cellular review

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Hanging on for slick action and smart laughs charged with taut suspense? Cellular's got your number. A polished hybrid of Speed and Phone Booth (whose scripter Larry Cohen provides the story), it's a mobile thriller that has a feckless jock (Chris Evans) racing against time to save the kidnapped mother (a breathlessly OTT Kim Basinger) who cold-calls his Nokia begging for help.

Hitchcock would have had a field day with this economical premise, though not with its clueless hero: Evans makes so many elementary boo-boos, it's more a case of Dial M For Moron. But whether laughing with or at it, Cellular is very funny. Director David R Ellis shows the same touch that made Final Destination 2 such dumb fun, cutting briskly between the attic-bound Basinger and hardman kidnapper Jason Statham, William H Macy's dogged cop and Evans' amusing encounters with numerous unhelpful, obnoxious Los Angelenos.

A tidy potboiler that never stays still long enough to slip through its gaping plotholes.

The Total Film team are made up of the finest minds in all of film journalism. They are: Editor Jane Crowther, Deputy Editor Matt Maytum, Reviews Ed Matthew Leyland, News Editor Jordan Farley, and Online Editor Emily Murray. Expect exclusive news, reviews, features, and more from the team behind the smarter movie magazine. 

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