The Box
Richard Kelly doesn't do normal. Not really. Oddly enough, most of his efforts have been initially rooted in domesticity. At least, the characters are real enough, even if events that occur around and to them are far from ordinary. The most notable previous Kelly pictures to make it as far as your local cinema would have been Donnie Darko and Southland Tales.
Both of these movies have garnered much critical attention, one admittedly more successful with them than the other. Donnie Darko was heralded as the first turn from a stupendous new talent. Southland Tales could easily be politely described by some as his 'difficult second film' and all of the praise heaped on Kelly from Darko was swiftly taken back again when 'Tales' was released. .
Regardless, Kelly has been reluctant to bend to the will of Hollywood demands and even now with 'The Box', he has been determined to tell stories (even those that aren't his own) in his own rather unique and undeniably peculiar way.
Adapted from the short story 'Button, Button' by Richard Matheson, this tale has already had one visual outing, enjoying pride of place on television in a Twilght Zone episode. To be honest, this is probably where it sits best. Much like the work of M Knight Shyamalan, the twists and mysteries are better suited to a television audience than the paying movie-going public. Here the story is noticeably padded by Kelly to make up for the shortfall in original content.
Set back in the seventies, days before internet and much of the technology we enjoy today (with good reason) Norma (Cameron Diaz) and Arthur Lewis (James Marsden) are struggling to pay their son's school fees. Norma is a school teacher and Arthur is an engineer, with very real aspirations of becoming an astronaut for NASA. On the day we meet them, things begin to go a little pear-shaped, professionally. Norma learns that her classes are goign to be cut in the near future and the space exploration the Arthur dreams of attaining are cut off in their prime due to him failing his psychological evaluation. Still, it's not the end of the world. He still has his job and Norma is still working, for the next month or two, at least.
Not quite the emergency, financially, that we are supposed to swallow, to account for their decision when Arlington Steward (Frank Langella) leaves a parcel on their doorstep, the very day the s**t has apparently hit the fan.
And so the story is laid out before us. Press the button on the top of the box and win a million dollars, but someone you don't know will die. Easy enough to fathom I'm guessing.
Norma and Arthur ruminate over this offer from Steward for the twenty fours hours they are given to make their minds up and boom, let the mysteries unfold.
Needless to say that choosing the apparently easy way is not without it's own particular set of dire consequences, proving once again that if an offer seems too good to be true, it probably is. With a nod to Indecent Proposal and Demi Moore's night of who knows what with you know who, there is an obvious 'what would you do if?' going on here, which is undeniably meant to hook the audience and reel them into a story more bewildering than you could possibly imagine.
What follows is largely based around what happens when Norma and Arthur make the wrong decision and have to try and go about putting it right before all hell breaks loose. This involves being stalked menacingly by Stewards many followers and a hunt to catch a killer, that may or may not be connected to the predicament that the Lewis's find themselves in.
Performance wise, Langella is having a decent time of it of late, and here is no different. He manages to pull off a suitably menacing/comely/charming performance even with only half of his face. Many actors working today would have difficulty pulling this role off with their whole face, so big claps should deservedly come his way. Diaz, as the worlds highest paid actress doesn't really ever get out of second gear and strolls through the film, not really having her credentials tested. Given her Hollywood clout, it's about time the girl stopped taking direction so willingly, without sticking her tuppence worth. This may have made her performance more enjoyable. It wasn't poor by any stretch, but we all know she can do much better.
James '27 Dresses', 'Enchanted' Marsden is probably the most believable character of all the ensemble, looking suitably confused for large parts of the picture. The most interesting and baffling things happen to him personally and the surreal path he travels can be enjoyed as much by the audience as it is uncomfortable for Arthur.
All in all, entertaining as it is confusing. A second viewing may be recommmended to ctach the many nuances Kelly leaves trailing about the place, but if I'm honest, I really can't be bothered. Darko made me go back to it a second time within an hour of finishing watching it for the first time. Southland Tales dragged me back to it a week after my first viewing, but The Box, in it's admittedly odd niche, fails to capture that same wonder that both of Kelly's previous efforts have enjoyed.
