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The Box

Whatever that button does in the box ain't worth $10 and 2 hours, but it wouldn't be bad on a rent-a-flick date night.

Movie Details

Rated: PG-13

Run Time: 1 hr 56 min

Release Date: 11/6/2009

Genre: Thriller/Sci Fi

Writer: Richard Kelly

Website: Visit Website

Director: Richard Kelly

Watch the Trailer

Synopsis

Arthur (James Marsden, X-Men) and Norma (Cameron Diaz, My Sister’s Keeper) Lewis receive a mysterious box from a strange man who offers them one million dollars if they press the button in the box which will activate someone in the world they don’t know to be killed.

Review

This is a very odd movie. I wasn’t expecting the movie to be set back in 1976 or the old sci-fi sounding score that went with this film. The flick was so dated, for a minute; I thought The Box should be in black and white. It was intriguingly weird. Just everything about it was strange, from the characters, to the music, to the acting, and scenes.

Anyhoo, The Box tells the story of a young couple Arthur and Norma Lewis who are having some money issues. Then, luck would have it they receive a box, with a big red button in it from a very mysterious man with a severely disfigured face named Arlington Steward (Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon). He offers them one million dollars if they press the button in the dome of the box. Now, if that was all they had to do for one million dollars, then sign me up. However, that’s not it. There's a major catch. If they opt to push the button, then someone in the world they do not know, will surely die. The decision the couple makes will set into motion consequences way beyond their control.

This would be a perfect picture for DVD or actually, HBO or the USA station. Maybe it’s because this film was originally based on the 1970 short story “Button, Button” by Richard Matheson, which was previously adapted into an episode of the 1980’s TV series The Twilight Zone. I mean peeps have to remember how peculiar The Twilight Zone was. For real…I never was a fan. Maybe I was way too young to appreciate it. Maybe I’m not appreciating The Box the same way because of how I felt about The Twilight Zone so many years ago.

Whatever it is, The Box ain’t worth $10 and 2 hours. Save your cheddar and wait until you are surfing channels and you happen to see it on.

The story was stretched out beyond its britches. It could have been shorter in length. It got boring at times. I was thinking, "Where is the action and major suspense that I saw in the trailer?" There was so much talkie-talkie I needed a little something more. I did like the ending and the premise. The Box also allowed that one question to come into your mind a couple of times, “What would you do?” I know I wouldn’t press the button. That’s for sure. I surely don’t want to decide someone’s fate out of my own greed.


My Rating ~ 2 Reels

2 - Rent this movie on DVD when it comes out

Audience Rating (What's Yours?)

Reel Talk

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