THE BOX (USA 2009) **
Directed by Richard Kelly

Writer/director Richard Kelly (the cult classic DONNIE DARKO) takes the thriller mystery up too many notches in his dead serious rendering of the tale of a couple Norma and Arthur, discovering a strange box on their doorstep.  The premise is the million dollars earned if the button on the box be pressed.  The catch is that someone must die.

Norma (Cameron Diaz) meets up with a strange man with a strange face (Frank Langella) before she and husband (James Marsden) decide on what to do.  Though based on a short story (by Richard Matheson), Kelly’s film runs almost two hours and drags from start to finish.  Examples are the extended suffering scene of the son Walter (Sam Oz Stone) grimacing on the bathroom floor or the unnecessary library sequence.  Kelly lets go the clues in the film at a snail’s pace.  But once one realizes the mystery has a supernatural explanation, the film loses credibility and interest.

Marsden (Prince Charming in ENCHANTED) was likely hired for his good looks as he is as unconvincing as an astronaut as Cameron Diaz as a southerner with her odd accent.  At least Langella (Oscar nominee in FROST/NIXON) is creepy with his lightning struck face stealing every scene he is in.

The long and short of it is that this lengthy film could have been told more effectively in less than an hour and that no one really cares what happens to Norma and Arthur at the end.