LuckyWillThe Box - Think Outside and Think Fast
November 11th 2009 12:02
What would you choose?
For the first half of the film the couple must struggle with this burdensome decision as does the audience. The husband, Arthur (James Marsden) works for NASA and recently suffered a setback to his career when his application to become an astronaut is refused. Norma (Cameron Diaz) has recently been retrenched from her job as a teacher and so the couple are facing some tough financial times ahead. But what to do? Push the button and the 1 million dollars could get them out of debt; set them up for life. However, they will then be responsible for the death of another human being. However, if they don’t press it and the offer is passed on to someone else, that same person may still die only the couple won’t have made a cent from it. Could it be a trap?
Obviously a decision is made and when Arlington comes to retrieve the box he delivers one great line as he leaves that turns any opinion you may have had about the box, on its head. I will mention this line right at the end of the article but it will be clearly marked as a spoiler so read on until then.
When the couple makes their decision, the film takes a very strange Twilight Zonesque turn, which really does capture the mood of the original show that this film evolved from. Arthur and Norma are thrown into a surreal new environment with strange people and diseases that cloud minds and cause nose bleeds. It gets very weird and I think confuses even itself at times with some plot lines that just seem to be forgotten and disappear. The gaps were frustrating because some stories were just left unfinished; some things just didn’t make sense. The film does finish very well as a new offer is made to the couple and the decision is far more personal and damaging than the original offer.
While ‘The Box’ feels very long and despite some plot lines disappearing, it is very entertaining, suspenseful and thought provoking. If you like a film that challenges you with a tinge of supernatural wonder about it then this is definitely one to watch. Not great but it is interesting.
3.5 Thrilling Choices/ 5
SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT
You literally spend the first half of this film tossing and turning over the decision. Would it matter to you if someone, who you don’t know, was to die? Could you live with that for 1 million dollars? After all, you don’t even know them. However…
When Norma and Arthur eventually decide to push the button, Arlington promptly shows up on their doorstep. The money is presented and the box is retrieved as was agreed.
“What are you going to do with it now?” the couple quizzes.
“It will be reprogrammed.” He pauses and looks at them with a wry smile. “But don’t worry, I’ll be sure and give it to someone you don’t know.”
And then it hits you; they are next. The film then becomes about the couple trying to beat the system and save their family. In the end their son is captured by Arlington and is locked away in a bathroom. The child is made blind and deaf and a new deal is presented to the couple. If Arthur shoots his wife in the heart, killing her, then their son’s eyesight and hearing will be returned and the 1 million dollars put away for him until he’s 18 years old while Arthur goes to jail. If Arthur doesn’t shoot her, they all live but their son will never see or hear again, imprisoned in silent darkness. I love the film for these two tough decisions if nothing else.
| 53 |
| Vote |
Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
I really love "Button, button", the original twilight Zone episode this expands on. Sadly casting Cameron Diaz and even worse James Marsden you have virtually rendered anything less than a masterpiece unwatchable.
Annoying because l worship Donnie Darko and am waiting for Richard Kelly to deliver an above mediocre follow up..