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THE BOX |
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Richard Kelly's "The Box" reminds me a little of "Indecent Proposal" only on drugs. He keeps his darkness and eerieness as we saw in "Johnny Darko", but he poses that
terrific question: "What would you do?" What would you do for a million bucks? Would you let your spouse sleep with a financially better mate as "Indecent Proposal" posed? Or could
you literally kill a faceless stranger with the touch of a button - kind of like Staple's Easy button. |
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Norma Lewis (Carmen Diaz) and her husband Arthur (James Mardsen),
a suburban 1976 couple with a young child, receive a simple wooden box
as a gift, which bears fatal and irrevocable consequences. A mysterious stranger (played wonderfully by Frank Langella), delivers the
message that the box promises to bestow upon its owner $1 million with the press of a button.
But, pressing this button will simultaneously cause the death of another human being somewhere
in the world; someone they don't know. With just 24 hours to have the box in their possession,
Norma and Arthur find themselves faced with that moral dilemma and must decide
the true nature of their humanity. Much like "Indecent Proposal" they are in deep financial straits. Nevertheless, again like "Indecent Proposal" the couple decides to go for it. What they get is now
the Pandora's Box route. With a flick of the switch they are transported into a quasi sci-fi world of no reason. |
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That world reveals the true nature of Norma and Arthur. We learn there is more to their goody-goody persona. She was basically a beauty queen who has lost her looks due to a clubbed foot. Arthur is a scientist who has been
passed over for promotions on numerous ocassions. All is not happy in paradise. Meanwhile we learn the mysterious man is missing half his face...what's up with that? Very much like "Donnie Darko" we are taken down an improbable path of
character awareness. The couple learns the origins of the box and the implications with NASA (whom they live near) and
the National Security Administration. There are implications of kidnapped children, lots of people with nosebleeds and hordes of zombified civil servants.
People from outer space. Good stuff! However, unlike "Donny Darko" I found the performances, no, the entire film rather stiff. But it was still entertaining. It suceeds in posing the question,
but slacks off with the consequences of the actions. To be sure, "Thge Box" is derived from a short story called
Button, Button which was then made into an episode of the Twilight Zone. It feels like a
Twilight Zone only too long. --GEOFFREY BURTON
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