Donnie Darko, the debut movie of Richard Kelly, is a freaky yet brilliant cult classic. He somehow managed to successfully fuse an 80's nostalgia movie, with a teen angst drama containing time travel, a superhero, science fiction concepts along with humour, intelligence and style. Unfortunately I've only managed to get through half of his over-long and over-ambitious follow-up Southland Tales (so far). So I approached his latest effort, The Box, with trepidation.
Fortunately The Box is a return to form. It stars Cameron Diaz and James Marsden who receive a visit from the mysterious and disfigured Frank Langella. Frank delivers a box. In the box is a button. If the button is pressed a person they do not know will die. They'll also receive a million bucks. Of course, they press it.
It's a simple, yet strong moral concept that the film-makers hoped would draw an audience into the cinema to watch it. I say hope, because just like Donnie Darko, once the premise has been established, then Kelly starts introducing completely batshit spiritual and scientific concepts.
If you don't like movies where you have to think, you'll probably think this is a self-important, self indulgent waste of time. However, if you're willing to go with the flow and embrace the science fiction elements, as well as think about issues of morality, choice and consequence, then this will be an enjoyable and rewarding movie.
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