Review of The Box (2009) by Filipeneto — 18 Apr 2021

There are some films that make us feel like punching the director and the screenwriter... we see that it has potential for more, but they are ruined and shattered by their lack of competence. That is the case with this film, which has excellent premises for suspense and mystery which the stupidity of director/screenwriter Richard Kelly gradually tears down.

As I said, the film starts really well: in the Sixties, the decade of the space race, a couple receives a mysterious package with a box, apparently of little use, in which there is a big button inside a glass bell. Shortly after, they receive a visit from a very well-dressed stranger, who tells them that the box will be theirs for a day, in which they will decide whether to press the button or not. If they decide to do so, they automatically earn a million dollars, but someone in the world, whom they don't know, will die. The moral dilemma is devastating and would make anyone think a lot: on the one hand, the value offered meant, at the time, the rest of a worry-free life. On the other hand, it is money soiled with blood, even if the person who dies is not known. The film would have done well if it stayed here, and woven around this premise a moral and family drama fraught with tension, also taking advantage of the fact that the offer was perhaps too good to be real, and the identity of the employers of that mysterious man were, perhaps, even more mysterious than himself. But it doesn't... it extends too much, explores the spatial issue too much without giving rise to something really good for the story and, to some extent, it seems to want to include aliens or other strange cosmic forces. Anyway, the film becomes a mess that eliminates the initial tension and completely spoils the whole set.

The cast has the participation of Cameron Diaz, who does a satisfying and quality job, but is not able to save the film by itself. Even more impressive is the good work of Frank Langella. The actor, who already seems to have an appetite for characters with a sinister and somber touch (I remember the dark and elegant way he worked on "Frost/Nixon" and also his excellent work on "Ninth Gate"), could not seem more dark here: with part of his face burnt, elegant clothes with impeccable cut and a black car worthy of a corporate CEO, Langella is great in his character and the initial scenes, in which he shows the box and makes his offer, with an excellently modulated and deep voice are, truly, the best in the film for me. I can't see an actor better than him for this character. The rest of the cast is limited to gravitating around these two actors and giving them all the space they need for their work. James Marsden still tries to excel, but there is no way to meet with his colleagues.

Technically, the film has ups and downs. Cinematography is excellent and makes good use of everything it has, with a dark touch and low contrast. The sets and costumes are good, but there is a little more period sense: the film takes place in the Sixties, but if we take out the furniture, the old technologies (the analogical TV, the corded phone) and the theme of the space race, everything else could easily be from the Nineties. The makeup work is good, particularly the one dedicated to Langella, and there is some good and discreet CGI. The soundtrack is forgettable and hardly noticeable.