“The Box” Review: If You Thought “Donnie Darko” Was Weird…

Image copyright Warner Bros. Pictures
Image copyright Warner Bros. Pictures

God, what a strange movie.

The Box‘s nearly inexplicable story concerns Norma and Arthur Lewis (Cameron Diaz and James Marsden), a married couple living with their young son Walter in suburban Richmond, Virginia (although one scene was clearly filmed at the Boston Public Library) in the mid-’70s.  One day a creepy man with a chunk of his face missing (Frank Langella) shows up at the Lewis’ door with a mysterious wooden box containing a bright red button.  The man explains that if the Lewises press the button, they will receive a million dollars–and someone they don’t know will die.  After some deliberation, the couple decides to accept the offer.

Most reviewers will gloss over everything that happens in the film’s remaining 90 minutes, either because they’re too embarrassed to admit that they didn’t understand the plot or because they don’t want to bother trying to explain the plot in a way that makes sense.  I’ll give it a shot: After the Lewises receive the money they start getting followed by creepy people with nosebleeds, some of whom try to issue warnings about a conspiracy involving Mars and lightning.  Arthur goes to the (Boston Public) library and is forced to choose between three interdimensional portals, and then Norma and Walter get kidnapped, so Arthur hooks up with a NASA coworker who killed his wife but then they get in a car accident and Arthur wakes up in an aircraft hangar…

Whatever, I give up.  Writer-director Richard Kelly made his name with 2001’s Donnie Darko, and with this effort he seems to be trying to outdo that film’s sense of convoluted, cryptic paranoia.  He’s certainly succeeded in making a movie that’s even more mind-boggling than  Darko, but, for a few reasons, The Box‘s weirdness doesn’t really work.

First of all, the conspiracy concept that takes up most of the running time never really feels necessary; it just comes off as a distraction from the individual-vs.-greater-good moral dilemma that the movie is supposed to be based around.  Also, while Donnie Darko‘s eerie goings-on were combined with interesting characters and pointed social commentary, The Box‘s everyday context feels artificial.  The Lewises just aren’t that interesting as characters, and their son, like so many other fictional children, is a cipher who exists for the sole purpose of being put in danger when the protagonists need to be motivated.  The dialogue is awkwardly written; here’s Arthur describing his journey to another dimension: “It’s a place neither here nor there…  It’s the place where the sidewalk ends.”  The afterlife is a Shel Silverstein poem?  What?

One last complaint: I didn’t like Steven Poster’s digital cinematography.  The whole movie looks bland and fuzzy.  I know that’s just the style right now, so I shouldn’t really blame Poster, but still.

The good news is that while this film may annoy and confuse you, it will never bore you.  I can’t stay mad at a movie that features a sentient CGI swimming pool, a zombie Santa Claus, and Cameron Diaz with a deformed foot and a fake Southern accent.  In short, The Box is rarely coherent but always entertaining; you can decide for yourself whether or not that’s enough.

About Matt Hoffman

Matt Hoffman (COM/CAS '10) is a film writer for the Quad, and is currently majoring in Film and International Relations at BU. His writing can also be found at Pegleg Spinners, Super Tuesdays and Mania.com. He grew up in Connecticut and is not a pro BMX biker.

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One Comment on ““The Box” Review: If You Thought “Donnie Darko” Was Weird…”

  1. Solid review, Matt. That point where we both turned and starred at each other thinking the same thing, “Silverstein” was pretty funny. You make some very good points and when I think about it now…a lot of shit happens in that movie.

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