Review of The Box (2009) by Daniel P — 30 Mar 2011

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." - Arthur C. Clarke.

Not especially well received either commercial or critically, The Box, for me, was evidence if evidence were needed that Richard Kelly is one talented guy. Taking as his source the short story "Button Button" by Richard Matheson (also adapted for TV in an episode of The Twilight Zone) but adding his own idiosyncrasies, the film is nothing if not ambitious. The film is positively bursting with head-fuck ideas, and the only failures I could find fault with were some wonky special effects (also the only problem I had with Donnie Darko), and *perhaps* some pacing issues. But honestly, there is so much here; the film is thrilling, clever and at times incredibly disturbing. There are twists and turns but the tone is never uneven, and there are many sequences here that have burned into my mind (again, much like Donnie Darko). I also cannot fault the performances of Frank Langella, James Marsden and especially Cameron Diaz, who hasn't been this good since her turn in Being John Malkovich . To top it all off, there's a gorgeous music score from those clever Arcade Fire people. Its over ambitious-ness seems to be what turned a lot of people off, but for me, this is a cult favorite.