Hang up on reality to like this thriller

Rule number one when watching any Hollywood movie: Suspend reality. In fact, don't just suspend reality, throw it out the window and run it over as you drive off. "Cellular" is a thriller for which this rule fits perfectly.\nThe film is about a biology teacher, wife and mother Jessica Martin (Kim Basinger) who is abducted in her home early in the morning after seeing her son off on the school bus. In the room where she is trapped, she makes a phone call to a random stranger using a shattered phone that miraculously still barely works. \nThat random stranger is Ryan (Chris Evans). If that doesn't ring a bell he played Jake in "Not Another Teen Movie." Ryan stays on the line with the abducted woman and decides to help. What follows is an incredible string of events, all ridiculous without rule number one.\nIt's directed by David R. Ellis. (Who?) He directed "Final Destination 2." Many of you may have missed that movie, and if you did see it, probably weren't impressed. But it did involve many elaborate action scenes. "Cellular" also has a few high-intensity action sequences that are directed quite well. The car chases are entertaining, and there's a good mix of gunfights and scrappy tussles. But there aren't any new tricks and not much to remember.\nThe story is surprisingly original. The whole concept of the hero flying around L.A. to save a woman he's never seen creates a very unpredictable sequence of events. I really liked the slow revealing intentions of the captors. For a while it isn't known who they are or what they want. But the tension doesn't hold much past an hour. \nThe movie's pace is fast, and the suspense is early. There aren't even opening titles, but by the end, this technique makes a 94-minute movie seem to last a lot longer. Basinger acts her part as well as she could; the problem is that the character isn't well-developed. Her only pre-kidnapped scene is maybe two minutes with her son who is catching the bus for school, so her emotional scenes with crying and screaming and such fall short and even feel uncomfortable. \nThis is due in part to the comic relief scenes in the film. They aren't bad - plenty of humor to be had with somebody on a cell phone racing around the city. They just don't fit well with the suspense. \nTurkish (for pre-Madonna Guy Ritchie fans) is also in this film. Jason Statham plays the leader of the bad guys. And I feel bad for him. It's not that he can't make a good antagonist. It's that his character in "Cellular" is so lame. \nThe dialogue is laughable, and Statham, like the other characters, isn't developed. A small consolation other than Chris Evans showing off a ripped hairy torso in his opening scene, William H. Macy is in this picture. Why? I don't know. He plays Officer Mooney, who happens to be mixed up in the action. He offers some fine comedic scenes, involving aspirations to own a day spa, though not enough for me. Then, in the end, he turns into an action hero, which doesn't work.\nOverall, the movie isn't a terrible way to spend your time, but it isn't a great way to spend your money. Catch it on cable TV in a couple years and have a good laugh.