Movie Review: The Box
There was actually more I wanted to say about The Box than could fit in my tiny review...like how there seems to be a touch of misogyny in the people pushing the button, how writer/director Richard Kelly explains virtually nothing but still satisfies in an intriguing way, or how much I really wanted to like the pretty, pretty movie while watching it...but all that gave way to one specific point that needed to be reiterated strongly. Read on.
She Must Be Stopped
The Box is another Diaz-aster
Once more, blood adorns the oft-stained hands of Cameron Diaz, professional movie killer. We’ll never know if writer/director Richard Kelly’s The Box could have grown up to be an offbeat little sci-fi treasure now that Diaz, the cinematic slaughterer, bludgeoned the film to death in its infancy with her vile rendition of a southern accent. Diaz, the film flayer, gave away the ending of the flick at a panel during the San Diego Comic Convention back in July, proving that this was clearly premeditated murder. But before we further prosecute Diaz, let’s take a minute to remember the victim.
The “Twilight Zone” episode “Button, Button” was based on a Richard Matheson short story of the same name, which was repurposed into The Box, a movie that Cameron Diaz ruined. Arlington Steward (Frank Langella), a man missing half his face, drops a box off at the home of Norma (Diaz) and Arthur Lewis (James Marsden). Inside the package is a button that, if pushed, will grant the couple a million dollars and kill someone the duo doesn’t know. This is a less effective means of inflicting harm than the one Diaz has discovered: making as many movies as possible.
On-screen grenades don’t often go unexploded, so the button is obviously pushed, and the result is an orgy of sci-fi ideas weaved into a potentially compelling cat’s cradle. Out of respect, and as a sign of intelligence greater than that possessed by Cameron Diaz, the rest of the plot shouldn’t be discussed with those who haven’t seen the film, but be assured that fans of Kelly’s directorial debut Donnie Darko will revisit some surprisingly familiar ground.
Kelly’s film had plenty to overcome without the voluntary manslaughter committed via Diaz’s acting; the discussion over whether to basically commit murder to get rich is truncated into sparse bursts of laughable dialogue (presumably because Kelly wanted to use as little footage of Diaz speaking as possible), and the entire third act is a weird mash-up of “The X-Files” and Children of the Corn.
Although sometimes choppy and often maddeningly vague, The Box would have survived were it not for Diaz’s malicious maiming. When will her reign of terror end? When will people realize that the world is not in short supply of blonds with the ability to make words come out of their faces? Here’s hoping that it ends here. Here’s hoping that The Box is her final victim.
Grade - C
She Must Be Stopped
The Box is another Diaz-aster
Once more, blood adorns the oft-stained hands of Cameron Diaz, professional movie killer. We’ll never know if writer/director Richard Kelly’s The Box could have grown up to be an offbeat little sci-fi treasure now that Diaz, the cinematic slaughterer, bludgeoned the film to death in its infancy with her vile rendition of a southern accent. Diaz, the film flayer, gave away the ending of the flick at a panel during the San Diego Comic Convention back in July, proving that this was clearly premeditated murder. But before we further prosecute Diaz, let’s take a minute to remember the victim.
The “Twilight Zone” episode “Button, Button” was based on a Richard Matheson short story of the same name, which was repurposed into The Box, a movie that Cameron Diaz ruined. Arlington Steward (Frank Langella), a man missing half his face, drops a box off at the home of Norma (Diaz) and Arthur Lewis (James Marsden). Inside the package is a button that, if pushed, will grant the couple a million dollars and kill someone the duo doesn’t know. This is a less effective means of inflicting harm than the one Diaz has discovered: making as many movies as possible.
On-screen grenades don’t often go unexploded, so the button is obviously pushed, and the result is an orgy of sci-fi ideas weaved into a potentially compelling cat’s cradle. Out of respect, and as a sign of intelligence greater than that possessed by Cameron Diaz, the rest of the plot shouldn’t be discussed with those who haven’t seen the film, but be assured that fans of Kelly’s directorial debut Donnie Darko will revisit some surprisingly familiar ground.
Kelly’s film had plenty to overcome without the voluntary manslaughter committed via Diaz’s acting; the discussion over whether to basically commit murder to get rich is truncated into sparse bursts of laughable dialogue (presumably because Kelly wanted to use as little footage of Diaz speaking as possible), and the entire third act is a weird mash-up of “The X-Files” and Children of the Corn.
Although sometimes choppy and often maddeningly vague, The Box would have survived were it not for Diaz’s malicious maiming. When will her reign of terror end? When will people realize that the world is not in short supply of blonds with the ability to make words come out of their faces? Here’s hoping that it ends here. Here’s hoping that The Box is her final victim.
Grade - C
Labels: Cameron Diaz, james marsden, movie review, richard kelly, the box
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