THE BOX – IN A WORD, NOT FOR THE LOVERS OF CONVENTIONAL

Remember Richard Kelly, the director of Donnie Darko? He directed this. So be warned, if you like that kind of film you’ll love it, if you don’t just skip to the next review. I know (and I know that you know) that I try and target some “out of the ordinary” films every once in a while but this is a bit of “ a specialist” moment. You either love or hate this kind of film
Mm-kay, so you’re either curious or a fan of Richard Kelly either way you’re here, so let’s get on with the story  It’s the year 197something. Space exploration is the next big thing. Behold Arthur Lewis (James Marsden) who is a happily married engineer at the Space Agency with a beautiful, loving wife (Cameron Diaz) and a young son. Their lives are happy and pretty much ordinary. Then a strange man (Oscar ® nominee Frank Langella) comes along and proposes a deal. He leaves with them a box, a small box, with a red button on it. He tells them that if they press this button, someone, somewhere who they don’t know at all will die. And they will receive a million dollars. They have 24 hours to decide what to do. It all seems incomprehensibly simple. Plus the money is a large sum that they need. But of course, there is a much bigger picture involved and from that moment onwards each and every one of their decisions will have consequences they could not have even dreamt of…
Soo, Ok, how does it compare to Donnie Darko? DEFINITELY the same quality. I am officially a fan of this guy. And the best thing is, unlike Donnie Darko, you do not need a grasp of basic quantum physics and/or a manual /website to understand what the film is about (those of us who have watched Donnie can testify this is NOT an exaggeration). I would go into more detail but honestly I am not quite sure where to begin. Suffice it to say, you may have to rewind a few times or research a thing or two on the net or possibly stop the film have a think over a coffee and then go on. But in the end I am pretty confident you will “get” it. In my opinion, this is a good thing. Cameron Diaz does a particularly astounding job as the family mother and Frank Langella is a particularly scary, well shall we call him “proposer” for now?
All in all, I encourage you to watch this film if you are a fan of the “off the wall” stuff. By all means give it a try if the summary attracts you and you’re curious. But do NOT blame me if you find it too weird/dark/confusing. Honestly, you have been warned.