MESSAGE IN THE MOVIES

The Box Rated PG-13

Directed by Richard Kelly. Starring Cameron Diaz, James Marsden.

Photo © Warner Brother's
Movie Review by Rev. Bruce Batchelor Glader

The initial premise of The Box (and the plot of the Richard Matheson short story “Button, Button” on which this film is based) involves an intriguing ethical choice. 

A young suburban couple (Diaz and Marsden) receives a mysterious package in which there is a box with a big red button on the top and a locked cover protecting any accidental activation of the device. 

A stranger appears later that day with a key to the box and informs them that they have 24 hours in which to decide whether or not to push the button.  If they do, two things will happen: 1.) Someone they don’t know will die; and 2.) They will receive one million dollars. 

Matheson’s short story (and a televised version of the story on TV’s The Twilight Zone) was a clever masterpiece that forced its audience to think about all moral choices that reward us while having a negative effect on people we will never meet. 

Think, for example, about pyramid investment schemes that pay quick dividends to early investors, while exploiting those further down the line.  Consider, as well, lottery winnings that come from the pockets of the poor, or chemical additives that produce initial high crop yields while polluting the environment. 

The possibilities are endless, when you are willing to strive for personal success and wealth at the expense of others.  The gospel turns this attitude on its head. 

Instead of thinking: “How much can I gain if I don’t think about those strangers that I may hurt along the way?” Christ invites us to ask: “How much am I willing to give away to help strangers that I may never meet?” 

Now that I’ve whetted your interest in this premise, let me now dissuade you from going to see this film version.  Richard Kelly is a writer-director whose films are puzzling and challenging.   2001’s Donnie Darko and 2006’s Southland Tales are movies that require repeated viewings in order to begin to understand what’s going on. 

Kelly’s version of The Box is no less confusing and includes Mars exploration, teleportation, and existentialism, among other things.  College students may enjoy debating the meaning of this film when it comes out on DVD.  The rest of you can simply consider the two things that will happen if you purchase a ticket to this film: 1.)  You will immediately lose between five and ten dollars; and 2.) You will have the rest of your life to try to explain this film to your friends. 

Choose wisely.

Pitchfork Rating:
Two halos. ( A great moral premise, inflated, compromised and reworked beyond recognition.)

Three picthforks. (A very confusing and dark vision, incorporating gun violence, creepy characters and upsetting moral choices.)

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