Movie: The Box

After the success of Donnie Darko, film fans have been expectantly waiting for writer and director Richard Kelly to come back with something equally brilliant. Well I think that with The Box he is certainly heading in the right direction.

The Box takes us back to 1976, with a tale that was originally a short story published in PlayBoy called Button Button by Richard Matheson. The story was then made into an episode of the Twilight Zone in the 80s and now it has been adapted to make a very creepy and strange movie.

Set in the suburbs of Virginia, a facially disfigured stranger (the very charasmatic Frank Langella) turns up at the home of NASA engineer Arthur Lewis (James Marsden) and his teacher wife, Norma (Cameron Diaz) with a box and what seems like a simple proposition. If they push the button on the box they will receive a million dollars - but pressing this button will simultaneously cause the death of another human being somewhere in the world...someone they don't know.

Obviously pressing the button is the wrong thing to do - we all know it is the wrong thing to do! But it wouldn't be much of a movie is they dismissed the offer entirely. Morally every action has its repercussions, could they live with this one? A million dollars is a lot of money today, but over thirty years ago it was an absolute fortune. Add into the mix that Diaz's character needs expensive surgery, they have job security worries and of course a bit of old fashioned greed and this unusual proposal is now a tempting one.

As you can guess, it doesn't end there and the plot thickens into a very confusing one. I really want to watch it again as I am sure there is more to The Box. The film moves between slow paced atmosphere building, into complicated twists with crazy sci-fi explanations.

Diaz looks amazing in this film, what makes look even more stunning is that everyone else is wearing the dodgiest 70's clothes ever made, while she is putting forward a good case for the 70's to be classed as one of fashions best decades. However even this can't distract from her rubbish southern accent. It is the first time she has given the accent a go, and she should have spent a lot longer perfecting it. This patchy attempt makes her acting skills seem very questionable.

The Box has so far been badly received by US audiences, they don't like this tale of morality or its ending. Obviously I have no intention of giving away the end of the movie, but I think it is very fitting and proves the point the film is making.

I really enjoyed this kooky film, there hasn't been anything like this in the cinema for a long time. It looks great, it's intelligent and brings up interesting questions about the bigger picture of life. That said it isn't perfect, but people who have written off Richard Kelly need to think again.

The Box is out 4th December - check out screening times at www.odeon.co.uk