Cell 2
8-20-00 Remembered that Jake was very good during the investigation scene where the agents are checking out Stargher's basement. He had on clear vinyl gloves and spotted the VCR. He could have turned it on with his finger but he used the point of his pen.
And for the clueless who can't fathom how the agents would know how long the victim had: the tape. Stargher taped the victims' deaths and everything was automated. They knew when the last victim was taken so all they had to do was count on their fingers and toes as to how long it took for the stuff to play out and they would know more or less when the tank would fill. I processed that info without a second thought during the movie.
8-23-00: Second viewing: after seeing the movie a second time and concentrating on delivery and mannerism, the two [Jake and Vaughn] are close, it's just subtle. It's brought out in the way they speak to each other, how they speak to each other and how they look at each other, etc. And the one scene where I thought Jake was being pissy, well, he was actually concerned because Vaughn's character hadn't slept like he was supposed to. I think it was the choice of words that gave the initial impression that I had that Jake's character was all huffy because his partner wasn't neat and cleaned up. It didn't help that Jake's face was also in the shadows, so you can't see that he's got an - ah, Novak - smile on his face. What was also curious was that I think all the outside law enforcement acknowledged Jake's character before they did Vaughn's although Vaughn's character seemed to be the one leading the charge. I think that it would have been better if Jake's character had been in charge with Vaughn's character maybe becoming personally involved, as opposed to remaining detached.
And while Jake's character was definitely concerned about his partner going in and then taking off before the doctor could check him out, there should have been a scene where Jake's character voiced some objection to Vaughn's character going in. When Vaughn ran off, Jake's character treated him like he knew just how far he could push - sort of treading softly - and you only do that when you know someone well enough.
I also noticed that Jake's character was tired looking in certain spots and he wasn't as upset by Vaughn's teasing as I first thought. He just sort of ignored him and spoke to Lopez' character.
The only thing that didn't change: Jake was still as gorgeous as ever.
4-1-01 No not an April Fool's, just some thoughts after having tried to listen to the director on the dvd. He is a rather arrogant person and having tried to listen to him, I'm not sure that the film was as good as I gave it credit for. The director said that he felt an impatience to get to the 'good stuff', the toys. He didn't think the 'talking' was that important. No wonder you feel a void between the agents. So where I had thought there was some 'story' to the film, there really isn't. It's just a frame work to get to the 'good stuff' - the weird visions inside Carl's head.
4-7-01 Looked over the script on dvd rom and we're lucky Jake got to say and so as much as he did as there were some parts where his character seemed to be non-existent. The only thing that got cut but that would have explained why he was on his cell phone at the diner (picture left) was that his wife was pregnant and her mother was going over. Their name for her mother was "the monster". Novak was so pre-occupied with the latest victim that he didn't even register that Ramsey told him his wife was pregnant. Ramsey got a little torqued about that, which did make him seem a little pissey. It also seemed like they hadn't necessarily been together that long, maybe only for this particular case. I checked the script to see if Ramsey made some protest about Novak's 'going in'. There was nothing to suggest he was even around, his character mysteriously 'vanishes'. Sheesh. I think the movie would have been better if it had been truer to the original screenplay, which I do have a copy of.