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Thriller fans will enjoy The Box
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It's moody, it's suspenseful, it's surprising, it's everyday-creepy, and it ends up in a completely unexpected place. I do so love that.
Starring Cameron Diaz, James Mardsen, and Frank Langella, The Box tells the tale of Norma and Arthur Lewis, a devoted couple presented with a moral dilemma. Press the button an you get a cool million in cash, but someone somewhere dies; you have twenty-four hours to decide, or the offer is made to someone else. Though both have good jobs and enjoy a comfortable upper middle class lifestyle, life has dealt a couple of financially depressing blows this very day, leaving them vulnerable...
The Box has every requisite element of a good thriller ~ everyday life under some strain, enter an unusual element, falling under the influence of that element, things start to spin out of control, and [an element I won't mention in the interest of not spoiling the ending]. I had the feeling I was watching a Stephen King short story, and that's always good news (The Box's foundational short story was penned by Richard Matheson ~ Stir of Echoes, I Am Legend).
One of my favorite things about The Box is the way in which it starts out in an "ordinary day" mood a la Rosemary's Baby, and eventually spins off in a Knowing-esque trajectory toward something apparently quite removed from its origin. Until we arrive at the destination, of course...
Writer-Director Richard Kelly (Donnie Darko) weaves the story nicely, and the casting and composition crews outdid themselves. Diaz and Marsden vibe on precisely the same wavelength, and I'm hard pressed to think who could have inhabited Arlington Steward more perfectly than Langella. The score reflected situations without steering, and was ever-present without leaving one with "theme song echo." It was always there, but never... there. Especially interesting is that the trio responsible hold all of three scores between them, including this one; an auspicious beginning, to be sure.
(Note to Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon game fans: we're also treated here to James Rebhorn, Celia Weston, and Deborah Rush.)
Toward the end, a few things didn't quite square for me, and I'm not sure why. Perhaps the screenplay fell down a bit, or I was distracted in pondering what had just happened before, or I was paying attention to a particular performance and a material line or two slipped by. I'm inclined to think one of the latter two. In any case, this in no way detracted from the experience, and falls under the category of Things to Watch for the Next Time ~ and there definitely will be a next time. Sometimes such things leave me with a negative impression at the end, and that certainly wasn't the case here. Even with questions, I came away satisfied.
On the way out the door yesterday I tweeted that I love a good supernatural thriller and had my fingers crossed that this would be one of them. It worked.
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