Episode 205 - Cellular (w/ Ike Barinholtz, Erin Gibson)

[AlmostAGhost 2718]

14 minutes ago, Cam Bert said:

do you think the TSA would just let him on his way without having to check why armed cops are going through security?

I think it all took place during a government shutdown

[Pauperfox 3]

I worked at Nokia outside Boston when this movie came out. They actually rented out a movie theater in the middle  of the day for all the employees to go watch it. We spent the entire time laughing about all the technically impossible things that occurred during the film.

[Cam Bert 8145]

**** Large Graphic Warning**** (sorry)

Paul asked and so I shall grant. Again warning up front I haven't been to LA since I was 13 and just going off assumptions and the limited information the movie gave. If there is a better way or if I missed something, sorry.

So before I show the map I thought I would explain the choices made in mapping it. We first see Chris Evans at the Santa Monica Pier so we start there. When he gets a call from Kim Basinger he's driving past Cresent Park near Santa Monica Pier, so that's the next location. To the best of my recollection the police are never mentioned by precinct or name, so I assumed he went to the closest one and that is the Santa Monica Police Department. Now here is where things get tricky. Next he's going to the school to get Ricky Martin. Kim Basinger originally tells him to head to Barrington and Sunset. Next we see he's turning onto Sunset and she tells him it just a mile or so down the road (which Marymount High school is) so I assume heading to Barrington and Sunset like he was told he would have gone up to Barrinton and then onto Sunset. Now this is where it gets trickier with the chase from the school. There is no indication how for or where they went so it was impossible to plot. Next Chris Evans goes to the cell store which we learn from the news later was in Westwood. From there he car jacks the lawyer which again we learn from the news later that it took place in Century City. From there he goes to LAX and from there is told to go to the bank at Olympic and Century Park. Then he needs the lawyers phone so he goes to the towing place at  2252 South Barrington (thanks printed address on truck) and takes the car back to the pier. So his route would look like this:

As you can see this creates a trip of 42.8 miles and without traffic a total of 2 hours and 2 minutes driving time.

However, movies are full of lies and we all know this. In fact I talked to my good friend and LA native Jason Statham and he let me in on some inside information. See the first part of my journey was correct. However the Ricky Martin chase was actually shot outside of LAX on West Jefferson. Any eagle eyed Statham can see that. Next, that car jacking was not in Century City. The tunnel he refuses to go into is the famous 2nd street tunnel which is miles away. Next that bank they go to, clearly the Union Bank tower is visible when entering it, meaning again it is miles away from Century City. So I decided to plot on what if he travel where we actually saw him in the movie and his journey looks a little more like this:

This bumps up the distance traveled to 97.2 miles and total trafficless time of 2 hours and 58 minutes.

So what does this all mean?

Well despite seeing phone screens a lot we are never shown times and unlike Escape from LA there is no ticking clock to go by. Here is what we know, Kim Basinger is taken shortly after she send her son off to school and before the chase the kids are being let out so that scene is roughly 3pm. Later at the climax of the film we see a low hanging sun by the pier meaning this is shortly before sunset. Giving the film the benefit of the doubt and saying it's late May or June based on school being in and the shirtlessness of Chris Evans, we can assume the ending of the film takes place no later than just past 8pm. That means from the Ricky Martin chase until the end he would have roughly five hours and change to get all this done in. Does this fit into the times on the map? I guess that largely depends on traffic that day.

[taylor anne photo 11311]

1 hour ago, Cam Bert said:

Well despite seeing phone screens a lot we are never shown times and unlike Escape from LA there is no ticking clock to go by. Here is what we know, Kim Basinger is taken shortly after she send her son off to school and before the chase the kids are being let out so that scene is roughly 3pm. Later at the climax of the film we see a low hanging sun by the pier meaning this is shortly before sunset. Giving the film the benefit of the doubt and saying it's late May or June based on school being in and the shirtlessness of Chris Evans, we can assume the ending of the film takes place no later than just past 8pm. That means from the Ricky Martin chase until the end he would have roughly five hours and change to get all this done in. Does this fit into the times on the map? I guess that largely depends on traffic that day.

One small correction on an otherwise perfect post - the kids get let out at exactly 1:45 because Kim mentions in the beginning that he has soccer right after school at that exact time, and then Chris states that when he was in the police station that it's 1:30 and that's when she freaks out telling him to get there, so that school would have to be 15 minutes away from the Santa Monica Police Station or this whole thing falls apart lol.

[Cam Bert 8145]

9 hours ago, taylorannephoto said:

One small correction on an otherwise perfect post - the kids get let out at exactly 1:45 because Kim mentions in the beginning that he has soccer right after school at that exact time, and then Chris states that when he was in the police station that it's 1:30 and that's when she freaks out telling him to get there, so that school would have to be 15 minutes away from the Santa Monica Police Station or this whole thing falls apart lol.

True. I skipped the beginning so I missed that. Thank you!

Okay so from the Santa Monica Police department to the high school is at a minimum 25 minutes without traffic.  Which makes this near impossible even if he was speeding. However, this also under the assumption that he went to the Santa Monica Police. For all we know she could have told him that she's from Brentwood and he went to the West LA police department. This would put him about 12 minutes away from the high school with speeding that's totally doable. It also makes more sense this way because with all due respect to the Santa Monica police I do not see them taking over a drug ring. This could also explain how he beats the bad guys to the school even with their head start.

[DrGuts1003 462]

The one thing that confused me was what exactly tipped off Ricky Martin Sr. that the cops were now suddenly after him and his family?  Given that he had the tape in a safety deposit box, the recording had to have happened days before.  The fact that he calls to warn his wife suggests he now knows there is an imminent threat, but it’s never made clear how he knows that.

And thinking about that call he makes to his wife, why exactly is he calling the house?  Shouldn’t she already be at school teaching her science biology class by the time he calls her?

[hotironskillet 137]

I watched this movie with my 16 year old son and a few times while we were watching I referred to Chris Evans' phone as a "cellular" phone until my son finally asked why I kept calling it that. "It's the title of the movie," I said. He said he didn't realize it had anything to do with the phone and thought the cellular part was going to have something to do with her being a biology teacher.

On a related note, KB says that people at work are going to notice that she isn't there so apparently she was dressed for work that morning. However, she's wearing fishnet stockings. What kind of science/biology teacher wears fishnet stockings to work? What kind of school does she work at?

[Blast Hardcheese 636]

7 hours ago, hotironskillet said:

On a related note, KB says that people at work are going to notice that she isn't there so apparently she was dressed for work that morning. However, she's wearing fishnet stockings. What kind of science/biology teacher wears fishnet stockings to work? What kind of school does she work at?

Thank you for bringing this up. I was a little confused as to if Mrs. Ricky Martin was actively teaching science biology. In the beginning of the movie she sees her kid off to school and then goes back home to mill around in the kitchen. Shouldn’t she already be a school by this time in the morning?

But, yeah... not to clothes shame Mrs. Ricky Martin, but is a tight skirt, pumps and fishnet stockings the best outfit for a science biology teacher to wear to school?

[Ofcoursemyhorse 1043]

My biggest takeaway from this movie is how hilariously ineffectual the husband is in this movie. Usually in a movie like this its the husband who would be expected to save his family from the kidnappers. This movie decided to buck that trend and have some random "teenager" save the day. So he basically does less to save his family from the mess he put his family in than his wife, who actively saves her husband and son multiple times. 

Its even more funny to me because the actor playing the husband routinely plays scumbags in other roles so when he showed up I kept waiting for the twist where he was secretly involved all along. 

[JerseyDavey 0]

I didn't watch the movie but I really enjoyed "Jason Statham Angeleno." I lived in LA for 9 years, moved out 10 years ago and now I really miss it.

[Cameron H. 23786]

Oh wow! Jason was cast as a voice actor in the upcoming, animated show Invincible - a comic I loved. 

This is important news! Why am I just learning about this now?

[Cam Bert 8145]

8 hours ago, Cameron H. said:

Oh wow! Jason was cast as a voice actor in the upcoming, animated show Invincible - a comic I loved. 

This is important news! Why am I just learning about this now?

A: I second this. Everybody should read Invincible.

B: Who do you think he'll be? I'm hoping Allen but I could see them also making him Rex.

[Cameron H. 23786]

7 hours ago, Cam Bert said:

A: I second this. Everybody should read Invincible.

B: Who do you think he'll be? I'm hoping Allen but I could see them also making him Rex.

I don’t know! My first thought was Allen, though.

[ManScene ManVoice 13]

I don’t know what you guys are talking about, not recommending this movie. I started it at 1am and have been hooked the whole way through. 

 

Got to say though, worst bad guy cops ever. They do a killing out in the open, and botch the whole process. Feel like they would have messed it up even if Chris Evans didn’t get involved. 

 

Also, I would have enjoyed the movie if Kim Basinger kept killing people with her biology knowledge and apologized each time. 

[TheWhiteRabbit 0]

It was kind of weird hearing Jason doing a bad English accent since he's been pretending to be a British stand-up comedies called 'Nish Kumar' for years...