Richard Kelly is ( or , more on the button , was ) a polarizing image in Hollywood . He only directed three film during his life history , the first being his 2001 cult classicDonnie Darko , which thrust him onto the world-wide phase as an go forth filmmaker . But then came his sophomoric moving-picture show , Southland Tales , in 2006 . The movie was a trainwreck , albeit a gloriously laughable trainwreck , that was so puzzling and clumsy it wasbooed at its Cannes premiere .
Then came Kelly ’s third ( and final ? ) film , The Box . Released in 2009 , the movie starred Cameron Diaz and James Marsden as a down - on - their - chance couple with a young son . One 24-hour interval , a mysterious package arrives , revealed to be a boxful containing a singular clitoris . The follow daylight an even more mysterious human beings ( Frank Langella ) arrives to explain the principle . If they push the clit , they get $ 1 million … but someone they do n’t eff will croak . After a bit of debating , they determine to press the button .
From there , audiences plunge into a patch involving outer blank , lightning strikes , government conspiracies , intellect command , the hereafter , and potentially extraterrestrial or spiritual deities ( the flick never make it clear which one we ’re trade with).The Boxreceived lackluster inspection and only gross $ 33 million globally , becoming abox office bomb . The movie also serves as Kelly ’s last feature film credit rating to appointment ( though he has been claiming in consultation for the last six years that he has tons of approaching projects ) .
Fifteen years afterThe Box ’s premiere , the movie is still a muddy , woolly-headed muss . But in classic Richard Kelly style , it has some unbelievably captivating expression , which is why film fans are still tattle about the moving picture after all these years .
The Box is a clunky, funky mess
I ’ll be completely honest : I love Kelly ’s premature filmSouthland Tales . I ’ve watch the almost three - hour - retentive movie at least six times now , and absolutely love the zaniness of it . The trouble is that I ’m still not full sure what its patch is . Southland Talescenters around a sham 2008 presidential election and encapsulates lots of issues that were part of the 2000s zeitgeist , like mood variety , wars in the Middle East , and the rise of Fox News as a propaganda electronic internet . But it also involves the apocalypse , a futurity - predicting film playscript , a porn star , parallel universes , exploding blimp , floating water ice cream truck , Bai Ling doing whatever it is Bai Ling does , and an epic melodic identification number with Justin Timberlake .
My point is this : Southland Talesis an uncomprehensible mess , but there ’s so much insanity and hilarity happening around every quoin that you ca n’t look out . It ’s more circus than movie , and that ’s terrific . Unfortunately , The BoxsharesSouthland ’s confusing plot and big acting … but it lacks the bombastic freak show that makesSouthland Taleswatchable .
Instead , it feel like Kelly wanted to be take in earnest this prison term around . It ’s like he told the actors to make their carrying out more subtle , to make the plot break less grandiose , and to make the movie ’s vibe find more like a respectable thriller than a hoedown jamboree .
Unfortunately , by render to makeThe Boxlook and feel like a convincing , respectable motion-picture show , Kelly showed what a really painful filmmaker he is . Diaz ’s execution is so subdue that I ’m convinced she shot the entire moving-picture show on Xanax , and Marsden seems like he ’s only there because of some contractual obligation .
The Boxtries to act like the couple are conflicted over whether to press the button or not , but both Marsden and Diaz are so emotionless and stiff that the lead - up to the bountiful “ will they or wo n’t they ” mo seems terrestrial and uninteresting . They basically settle to press the button during a still evening in the kitchen . “ It ’s just a box , ” Diaz says .
In plus , Marsden go to a library where there ’s a caboodle of mind - controlled human beings . The library also has a swim syndicate and a giant block of float water system that is a doorway to somewhere not understandably defined , and there ’s something about Mars and a satellite find fault up a signaling that coincided to a lightning strike that somehow implant something inside Langella ’s mysterious man that have him do what he does . It ’s all very vague and very idiotic .
The Box is a puzzle you still want to figure out
For some reason , despite how unquestionably bad the movie is , there ’s still something about it that draws you in . And this is the one saving blessing that Kelly has going for his life history . I ca n’t explicate what it is , it ’s just some kind of je ne sais quoi within Kelly ’s filmmaking style that stimulate you authentically curious about what the hell is conk out on .
By all traditional rule of filmmaking , audience should n’t care about Kelly ’s cinema . They break every contract bridge between filmmaker and interview imaginable — they languish our clock time , they ’re sloppily put together , Kelly hit them for himself and not the spectator , and he remain wholly unapologetic about his risky movies . We should detest him and not give him any of our clip or money . But instead , I keep wondering what his picture are about .
I did n’t turnThe Boxoff because , despite how tough it was — the hook was enough to snag me . I want to know why this box exist , why these people pressed the button , and how we cease up with a plot about conspiracy possibility involving outlander ( I cerebrate ) and the afterlife ( I think ) . Kelly has a way of asking question that snap up your aid . He can rarely present answers , but the man certainly knows how to draw you in , only add to the quagmire that is his vocation . But perhaps that ’s why it works ? He gives us so little coherent info that his movies actually force our minds to run wild , urgently seek to link the Elvis , with each watcher creating their own solution .
You should watch The Box at least once
Fifteen years after the movie ’s premiere , isThe Boxworth see ? As much as I loathe the film for being both cold and confusing , I believe all cinephiles should check it at least once . The Boxis charge with great mind , they ’re all just executed abysmally . But those melodic theme are enough to snag your interest and make you enquire what the deeper meaning is . And for that , I think Kelly , whether he intended to or not , did his Book of Job as a filmmaker .
The Boxis streaming onCinemax .
