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The Box |  | Director: Richard Kelly
Actors: Cameron Diaz, James Marsden, Frank Langella, James Rebhorn, Holmes Osborne
Studio: Warner Home Video
Category: DVD
Buy Used: $3.34
as of 7/29/2010 18:20 CDT details
New (40) Used (45) from $3.34
Seller: goHastings
Rating:  108 reviews
Sales Rank: 7300
Format: NTSC, Widescreen, Color, Subtitled
Languages: English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), English (Original Language)
Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Region: 1
Discs: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Running Time: 115 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.6
MPN: WARD042684D
UPC: 883929037834
EAN: 0883929037834
ASIN: B001UV4XWY
Theatrical Release Date: November 25, 2009
Release Date: February 23, 2010
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
A SMALL WOODEN BOX ARRIVES ON THE DOORSTEP OF A MARRIED COUPLE, WHO KNOW THAT OPENING IT WILL GRANT THEM A MILLION DOLLARS AND KILL SOMEONE THEY DON'T KNOW.
Director Richard Kelly has crafted yet another evocative, spectacular, maddening film guaranteed to provoke passionate love-it or hate-it responses. Though far more straightforward than his previous cult favorites, Donnie Darko or Southland Tales, The Box is crammed just as full of stunning visuals and ambiguous metaphysics. Norma and Arthur Lewis (Cameron Diaz of Charlie's Angels and James Marsden of X-Men) find a plainly wrapped package on their doorstep one day. Inside is a strange box with a large, red button--and if they press that button, explains a courtly but alarming-looking gentleman (Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon), they will receive a million dollars… and someone they don't know will die. This is but the starting point for an increasingly creepy tale, featuring eye-popping wallpaper, spontaneous nosebleeds, allusions to Jean-Paul Sartre, overly attentive library patrons, boxes of water, warehouses full of light, and a bell-ringing Santa Claus standing in the middle of a road. Some of it makes sense, some of it doesn't, but the person who's going to love this movie won't care. The Box's true power lies in the slow accumulation of dizzying hypnotic images and a tangible sense of unease and anticipation. Kelly aspires to capture the beauty and terror of existence on film; even if he doesn't succeed--and every viewer will have to decide that for himself or herself--his sheer ambition is remarkable. --Bret Fetzer
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 108
 Bummer July 19, 2010
Jo
I thought this would be a movie that would possibly bring some interesting conversation following the viewing.
All I can say after seeing it is, "Don't waste your time or money on this one."
 Bad news for fans of the mainstream July 14, 2010
Asgeir Valur Sigurdsson (Iceland)
BEAUTIFUL AND DEADLY
I love this film. For me as a viewer of this film , this movie has given Frank Langella god - like powers as an actor. Understandeably , that means bad news for big government and big bussiness who don't like people to have any ideas about the possibility of acquiering god - like powers as a result of encountering totally unforseeable events whom they have no control over. The film deals with three versions of Earth as they exist seperately and yet fully connected with each other in the year 1976. The film provides the ultimate counterargument against why people like to live in little boxes - and shatters any potential box the senses of it's viewer may have encountered in their lives , including and most specifically the box of conspiracy reality. Since I am very used to have my now circle - shaped world - views shattered by the minute , I welcomed this film so much that I watched it two times. The film portrays the possibility that humanity has evolved into a very powerful series of advanced species and civilizations which can possess such powers as the ability to move themselves between planets in the form of lightning. People think it's impossible but H.G.Wells encountered this concept of travel in the form of lightning when he wrote the War of the Worlds. In the War of the Worlds the Martians visited the Earth in the form of lightning as it was seen by Steven Spielberg. Spielberg tried unsuccessfully due to his political views to present his extraterrestrial visitors in a convincing manner but Morgan Freeman saved the day and for me , sort of led the team on that one. In the Box , Frank Langella proves ultimately his enormous success as an actor since his seriously , albeit totally unintentionally , shamanistic approax to interpreting Richard Nixon in the film Nixon /Frost. That was a movie I loved to watch as well. I have watched several other Frank Langella films but until this time I realized that he is seriously interested in playing in only really good movies. So this film will be a kind of Clockwork Orange like cult classic after about 10 years from now. It has already generated some highly politically incorrect ideas on travel in the minds of many. Imagine how easy it'd be once having perfected the technology and skills to create wormholes by the use of your mind and to use them to travel between dimensions in the form of lightning. On the outside you appear as lightning but in front of you is a wormhole. Goodness knows how many visitors from elsewhere may have visited this planet in such a manner. Imagine how easy it'd be for them to possess someone really aware , such as quite terrifyingly , mr. Langella or myself , and use our bodies and ourselves as vehicles without our knowledge. I have a far more terrifying theory as to how such a communication could take place - for example , astrally just as Langella tries to portray somewhere in the middle of the film. 1976 has a particularly significant importance from a symbolic perspective for me for some reason. I have often used this year to express myself artistically to get more people to read my other internet apart from amazon.com views and pay some attention to my art in my country and occasionally to make fun out of new age thought and maoism.
What if we could be struck not only by physical lightning such as that portrayed in this film but astral lightning? That'd be seriously politically incorrect for the one or two star reviewers of this film. But perhaps moderate for the three star reviewers. We five star reviewers love and honour and appreciate this movie , Langella for who he is , and Cameron Diaz for who she is , and the director , producers and other actors for who they are , without giving a damn about the consequences. We have no idea as to exactly why we love films like the Box , Solaris , etc. , we just do. Thus , we operate outside of the mainstream to the one and two star reviewers , learn from them , move about our bussiness numinously , and continue to strive toward greatness in the pursuit of our limitless potential. I love how the director of this movie and the Donnie Darko plays with water. I have never seen anybody do it as well as he does since Leonardo Da Vinci. Leonardo would have loved to watch his films. Interestingly like in Leonardo's works , water often has a somewhat apocalyptic message to tell in the film , and also very beautiful - beautiful and deadly. If you who are reading this view happen to be an nsa employee , do not try this at home - if you do , consider yourself warned!! That was of course a joke by the way. Thank you so much , Langella , Diaz and all for having brought me the opportunity to see this film. Without you , I would never have!! Hitchcock would have loved the Box. I wonder if there'll be a sequel in where the main character chooses to destroy the box and present it to Stewart in ruins. Stewart's gonna be soo mad.........or not since he likes mystery.
The fall... July 13, 2010
Salma Massoud (Cairo, Egypt)
I saw this movie on the plane and I wished my flight was longer so I could see it again. This movie, for me, depicts the story of man. It narrates the story of Adam and Eve as we know it from the Bible (Quran has a different point of view about the story but I can get to that later).
If you have not seen the movie, please do not continue reading.
Norma and her husband are living a happy life together (Adam and Eve in Heaven before the fall). One day a stranger knocks on their door and lures them with a box that will give them a million dollars if they were to press a button in it (Satan luring Adam and Eve to eat from the forbidden tree). The husband resists when he knows the other part of the deal: someone you dont know will die. But Norma keeps nagging and finding excuses why it is ok to press the button. The husband thinks of the worst (a child could die), but Norma thinks only of what can make her feel ok about pushing the button (it could be a criminal waiting for his death row). Again this is a depiction of the Bible's story about Eve being the one who pushed Adam to eat the fruit. Then, when the button is pressed, hell breaks loose (Adam and Eve fall from heaven to inhabit earth). Norma and husband are faced with choice after another, none of which is reasonable. The movie portrays that human beings are faced every day with choices that are all bad ones and we choose the one that we think is less bad. There is nothing that is good. Even when something good happens, it is shortlived and one doesnt have time to enjoy it (they took the 1 million USD an didnt get to spend it and enjoy it). Life is abo tests and unfortunately, it seems that no matter we do, we lose in the end!
 The Box. June 26, 2010
New Age of Barbarism (EVROPA.)
_The Box_ (2010) is a pretty gruesome film which starts from an interesting premise but I feel loses something towards the end. The film focuses on a family on the brink of financial disaster when they are visited by a strange man who is missing part of his face. The man offers the wife a diabolical proposition, she can choose to press a button which will result in the death of one person on the face of the earth but will be rewarded with 1 million dollars. The premise is interesting but I felt the movie gets lost after this point especially when it turns to aliens from NASA as an explanation for the mysterious man and his box. The film is overall fairly gruesome and diabolical in nature (taking pleasure in the misfortunes of others, etc.). I did not however feel that the ending was that good and it ends with a sad series of mishaps.
 Don't Push That Button Or We'll All Go Extinct June 20, 2010
Flap Jackson (State Road, NC)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I really wanted to like this movie. I love Twilight Zone-type stories. I love sci-fi mysteries, and weird movies. But, do you know what I like more? Movies that have a point to it. The Box may have many well-done parts & elements to it, but stacked together, the movie comes crashing down in a disappointing heep of pointlessness & potential. Let's divide this movie into three parts, shall we? Warning: Here be spoilers!
The first 45 minutes really plays kind of like the type of Twilight Zone where something weird happens that eventually leads to a moral dilemma. This moral dilemma comes packaged in a box, and happens to be a box with a button in it. Pushing the button promises to give the couple a million dollars, but it will also kill somebody the couple doesn't know. What would you do? You don't know if The Box is real. Heck, it could be one big joke! Granted, the guy who gave it to you gave off some bad vibes, but hey, how do you know he's telling the truth? It doesn't help that the couple has also recently learned of financial issues. A cheaper education for their son is denied, followed promptly by nose-bleeding by the denier. And the husband is denied entry into the NASA space program (I wouldn't be surprised if nose-bleeding occurs after this decision was made). So essentially, the first 45 minutes really is spent building characters, setting the mood and establishing a little of the reality. This of course all climaxes in Cameron Diaz pushing the button, leading her to basically be the 'Eve' in this 'Adam & Eve' story.
Before we move on to part two, let's talk about the cast, shall we? James Marsden really hasn't been given a chance to show off his acting skill before now, but really, the guy can act, and he's naturally likable. Basically, I want to see more James Marsden in the future. Frank Langella is of course a fine actor, and he does the best with his character. As for Cameron Diaz, while her character is interesting enough, I was really put off by her southern accent. At least with Sandra Bullock in the Blindside I got over it after a while. Not true with Diaz here. It didn't help that she was trying REALLY hard in this movie too. But anyways, let's move on to part 2.
The 2nd part of the movie turns into a homage to the paranoid conspiracy thrillers of the 1970s. This is probably the part that works most for me, as I ate most of it up. There were Zombie people, nose-bleeding, people in photographs, murder conspiracy. Richard Kelly just gets the mood so right in this aspect of the film, and it makes for a very good period piece. Of course, this is also the part of the movie where a LOT of stuff is thrown at you. I personally was able to keep up, but despite all the mysteries being explored, I didn't really feel like we were solving anything. Or even that we were being given enough information to solve it. Thus, I felt like I was grasping at slippery straws, looking for something, anything to help me grab onto a semblance of what this movie was trying to say. This 2nd act culminates in a library. This sequence again proves that the mood & paranoia at this part of the movie is just right. There's a part where James Marsden is being followed by an increasing number of zombies in the library that is just excellently done. Of course, for James Marsden, he's led to three portals, two of which lead to hell. Well, that can't be good! I don't really know why, or what is happening right now, but it still can't be good! Cameron Diaz also meets up with Frank Langella again and Cameron gets to have an emotional moment, and gives a revelation that I thought would actually go somewhere. I don't think it ever does. Basically, Cameron Diaz is turned into a Zombie, James Marsden apparently walks into the "correct" portal. Let's recap quickly. We have all these building blocks that haven't really gone anywhere comprehensible yet, let's hope Richard Kelly can bring it all back around in the 3rd act.
But just when you think it can't get anymore weirder... IT DOES!
3rd Act: We learn that Frank Langella actually used to work for NASA, but then was struck by lightning when the Viking Probe got too close to a planet or something, so Frank Langella basically dies, then turns into a messenger type for what I believe is aliens. It's never actually stated who his "employers" are, but they do have access to the afterlife, and crap like that. Then, at a wedding, James Marsden is shown by a previous guy who had received the box a bunch of pictures, and diagrams, and told that he also received a box and killed his wife to save his daughter. But then, that guy is killed. All the while, we are seeing other characters, including the kidnapped son into these portal pools. Why? I HAVE NO CLUE! Then we find out that the boxes are actually a test sent by the aliens or somebody to test humanity to see if they deserve living. In this way, it's like another Twilight Zone episode, one where the aliens are testing humans to see if they're ready to join their ranks, to which of course, the humans usually fail the tests. Anyways... Basically, to pass the test, you're supposed to simply NOT PUSH THE BUTTON. Then we jump to Diaz's and Marsden's house, where Frank Langella gives them ANOTHER TEST. Since they pushed the button, they must pay by either their son going deaf and blind for the rest of his life, or James Marsden killing his wife. Since the couple decide that they're the ones that brought this on themselves, Marsden shoots Diaz, perfectly knowing what happened to the previous couple, to which Diaz dies, Marsden is arrested, and their son is basically going to die as an orphan since the last Dad didn't exactly last very long in the land of the living. The movie ends with Frank Langella giving another box to another family. By the way, the moment before Diaz dies, another couple pushes a button, leading us to believe that this is an eternal cycle that will eventually doom humanity to extinction.
Sorry if this review has been plot-heavy, but I had to tell you how INSANE and FRUSTRATING this movie was. But, it didn't have to be like this. Let's say that the movie ended the same way it does, but it shows another couple deciding NOT to push the button, thus not dooming humanity to extinction. Or how about this? Go all "Knowing" on us and actually show the world getting destroyed because everybody had pushed the button. As is, the movie gives us closure on the two central characters, I guess, but little else, especially in terms of plot. What is the moral of the movie? Don't be selfish, even when aliens are making your financial lives harder. As is, humanity is doomed to extinction because they pushed a button. An exploration of free will? Maybe. The better decision here would be to press the EJECT button on your DVD player.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 108
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