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November 12, 2009

Benji Tunnell: Don’t open ‘The Box’

Anonymous The Joplin Globe Thu Nov 12, 2009, 06:50 PM CST

There is a series of advertisements that asks exactly how far you would go for a tasty ice cream treat.

One guy might rub his mother-in-law’s feet, while another guy might sit through the collected works of Ashton Kutcher. I’ve always wondered what these people wouldn’t do, or worse still, how far they truly would go.

I can imagine someone cemented to their seat as they watch “Hamlet” as presented by Ben Affleck, eyeballing that dagger and contemplating, if only for a moment, the sweet relief it represented.

But it does bring up an interesting moral question: How far would you go for something you want? How much would it take to convince you to kill?

“The Box” is, theoretically, based on this premise. (Spoiler alert: The plot is such a convoluted mess that I don’t see how I can wade through it without giving away key elements. Proceed at your own risk.)

A couple, played by Cameron Diaz and James Marsden, are presented with a box containing a button. Should they choose to press the button, they will receive $1 million, but someone that they don’t know will die.

It’s an ethical dilemma that has fascinating possibilities. Is the cost of someone’s life worth maintaining a posh lifestyle? Or will the guilt of this person’s death be too overwhelming?

Sadly, it is at this point that the film goes completely off the rails, shifting from a psychologically intense morality play to a bizarre sci-fi/horror hybrid in which the man pulling the strings of all of these people is in fact himself being controlled by some otherworldly source. He has, in essence, become a portal for alien masters after being struck by lighting.

I’ll give you a moment to re-read that last sentence and let it sink in. The aliens are running these tests to see if there is enough goodness in mankind to salvage the race.

This was also the driving force behind the aliens in last December’s “The Day the Earth Stood Still.” I don’t know which is worse: That humans are such flawed creatures or that Hollywood keeps inundating us with such lousy movies to preach about how awful we are. Maybe we are a product of these craptacular films being shoved into our already damaged psyches.

There are many to blame for such an atrocious offering. The first, I suppose, is me for paying to see it.

Cameron Diaz is laughably bad as Norma, whose disfigured foot is inexplicably made a focal point of the film. The ebb and flow of her accent removed all plausibility from her character. After listening to her increasingly futile attempts to replicate the Virginia twang, I began praying that if someone had a button connected to my life, they would press it so that I wouldn’t have to sit through the rest of her performance.

I believe that the director, as the shaper of the final product, deserves much of the credit or blame for a film. When the director is also the writer, there really are no other directions to point fingers. Richard Kelly (critically acclaimed for “Donnie Darko,” critically reviled for “Southland Tales”) wore both hats for this movie, and thus must shoulder the responsibility.

Aside from Diaz’s ludicrous performance, he also scripted a film which logically doesn’t make sense. Those participating in this experiment theoretically have a choice in their actions, yet the way the film plays out, it seems that their decision is predetermined. Which begs the question: If they have no free will to act, how can there be any different conclusion other than that which those in control want there to be?

There are those who will still want to watch this film. If you are one, I’d advise you to wait until DVD. At least that way, when the film becomes unbearable, you’ll have your own button to press to end the misery.

Address correspondence to Benji Tunnell, c/o The Joplin Globe,

P.O. Box 7, Joplin, MO 64802 or benjitunnell@gmail.com.

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