Review of The Box (2009) by Justin V — 09 Jan 2012

I'm going to be in the minority here because I loved this film. the box is based on the the richard matheson short story "button, button" and actually was an episode of the 1980's "the twilight zone.".

Anyone who knows richard kelly and will know that nothing on "kelly's world" is straightforward or normal. kelly is not an outrageous or a controversial director but his films are so - EERIE. with donnie darko he dared us to believe in time travel and super heroes while in southland tales he dared us to believe in cloning and a future U.S. in the middle of war and martial law. a lot of it is unbelievable and load of nonsense - but simply put it's not nonsense if it's told in intriguing and hypnotic way. kelly has the ability to do that - I wasn't able to take my eyes off the screen. but with his cryptic methods and predilection for presenting science as a major part of a storyline it can be very frustrating for the normal viewer.

Admittedly, the box is a mostly unfocused film that could've benefited from some explanation. neither james marsden nor cameron diaz are strong actors but they conveyed confusion very well, and that's really all they needed to do here. frank langella is the centerpiece here but even he's just a small piece of a very big puzzle. this isn't a film that holds your hand and makes sure everything's there for you to understand. it's intelligent filmmaking for an intelligent audience. kelly likes to think more highly of his audience and trusts that most will do more than just watch his films. he wants you to observe, practically study, his features. and even that won't guarantee you'll figure it out. all three of his major features - donnie darko, southland tales and the box require multiple viewings to get a grasp of his message. unfortunately, majority of the viewers will simply discard after one viewing because of the simple reason they don't understand it.

The box, for what it's worth, provides an opportunity to determine one's ethical and moral limits. on top of that it provides a surreal world where science is art and art is entertainment. i'm still trying to wrap myself around this one but I can say that what I saw left an indelible mark in my mind.

This is a great return to form for a filmmaker who may not be completely understood until generations later...