Going to see a play is an event everyone should experience at some point. There is something magical to be said about the theater lights dimming, the curtain rising, and actors using their talents right in front of you with no retakes, no room for error, and a use of real emotions you don't fully experience on the silver screen. With being on a stage, the actors have to act a little more... dramatic. Their movements and expressions need to be noticed from the back of the theater. Also a major difference between a film and a play is that a play can have cheesy, melodramatic lines that are perfectly acceptable. They fit the mood and the writer is adding their perspective on a weighty subject. When a movie is made in such a grand, melodramatic way as a play, the results can be disastrous. Case and point: The Box.

Based on the short story "Button, Button", the film revolves around a loving husband, Arthur, (James Marsden) and his caring wife, Norma (Cameron Diaz). They have one son and are having a hard time making ends meet. One day, a strange box is delivered to their front door and inside this box is... a box with a button. The following afternoon a mysterious man comes to them and explains the box. When you press the button there are two events that will occur: You will receive one million dollars in pure cash (no taxes) and someone whom you don't know will die. They have 24 hours to press the button or the box will be taken to another person. Even with the day long tension of "to press, or not to press" drama, the following days events are the true test.

The beginning forty minutes of the movie were fascinating. The plot had such a sociological premise that was genuinely intriguing and riveting. Sadly, once the forty minute mark was hit, the story just got a little too farfetched. With an explanation of the test that is so outlandish, it is hard not to laugh in the movie's most serious scenes. Director Richard Kelly co wrote the film and it felt like once the forty minutes of the original short story were played out, he took over and created what could have been an extra part to his other film Donnie Darko. The similarities and psychedelic nature of both films is so strikingly parallel that I felt like I was watching the same movie. The acting on Diaz's and Marsden's part was decent and interesting. Though far from stellar, they play their parts to a passable degree. Every other actor in the film however, was melodramatic and all around laughable. There were scenes in the movie where the tension was supposed to be high, but all the audience did was laugh and snicker at the silliness of the story.

It is rated PG-13 for thematic elements, some violence and disturbing images. While some of the scenes in the film are genuinely creepy, it was not enough to be categorized as truly grotesque. It is safe to say your teenager could see this movie and you would not have to worry about it being a bad influence. I would recommend this movie to someone who enjoys Kelly's directing and writing style but not to someone who wants a fulfilling story that has you leaving the theater, glad that you saw that.

I give The Box two out of five buttons. The only reason I am giving it even this high of a rating is because the premise was so drawing and the beginning was so likeable that it slightly made up for the latter part. At the end of a play, the curtain comes down and the actors come out to give their bows. Sadly after this film, I doubt that the actors would come out to proudly bow.