The Box starts out decently, asking the moral question: Would you do something for a million dollars if you knew it would kill someone?

This is the conundrum facing Norma and Arthur Lewis (Cameron Diaz and James Marsden). Norma is a school teacher who walks with a limp because she's missing toes on one foot from an x-ray accident. Arthur is an engineer for NASA who strives to be an astronaut and go to Mars. They don't seem that unhappy or broke, but at the same time their marriage has lost some of its lustre and their lives aren't as fulfilling as they could be.

One night in December 1976, a small wooden box with a red button is delivered to their home in Richmond, Virginia at 5:45am, waking them and their son Walter (Sam Oz Stone) up. The button is covered with a locked glass dome and there is a note stating a Mr. Steward will be visiting them at 5pm the next day to explain the purpose of the box.

At exactly 5pm the next day someone knocks on the door. Norma, at home alone, answers the door to find a man in his 70's with a half-deformed face. He introduces himself as Mr. Steward (Frank Langella) and asks to come in. He proceeds to explain what the button unit (as he calls it) is there for. If Norma and her husband press the button they will receive a million dollars cash, tax-free. The catch? Someone they don't know will die. He shows her the money, even leaves her a crisp $100 bill to prove it's real. He hands her the key to the glass dome and gets on his way.

They have 24 hours to make the decision and if they tell anyone, even their son, the deal is off.

Arthur returns home that evening and is filled in on what the box is for and what they need to do. Skeptical, he decides to take the box apart to see what's inside. It's empty. There's no transmitter or wires of any sort. Thinking this is a joke of some kind and while still debating what they should do Norma hastily pushes the button. Mr. Steward returns soon after with the briefcase full of money and ensures them the box will be reset and given to someone they don't know. And of course, someone has died.

Button, Button - the Richard Matheson short story and The Twilight Zone adaptation from the '80s that The Box is based on wrapped things up at that point and they both worked great. If this ended there too I would give it four stars and recommend everyone go see it. Sadly, writer-director Richard Kelly added another hour of pointless scenes and dialogue that got weirder and more laughable as the film progressed.

Kelly's breakout film Donnie Darko was a very strange trip that found an audience because even though it was bizarre it still felt natural and was an excellent film. The Box feels forced, as though Kelly needed to prove to Hollywood he can make a whacked out David Lynch-style movie and a blockbuster all-in-one. It has no heart or purpose and comes across as cold and lifeless.

Other problems with the film come from the actors. Diaz and Marsden have absolutely no chemistry on screen and Langella should be embarrassed being in this following his Oscar-nominated performance as Richard Nixon in Frost/Nixon. His portrayal of Mr. Steward is cringe-worthy dull and the make-up effects on his face were a complete joke.

I do give credit to the musical score that Win Butler and Régine Chassagne of Arcade Fire and Owan Pallett (aka Final Fantasy) put together. It's reminiscent of a Hitchcock film and works well at adding some tension to an otherwise flat film. It's also the one element that kept me from dozing off many times and I would happily listen to it outside of the movie.

With so many other good choices opening at the theatre this week I say wrap The Box up and send it back. Might be worth renting on DVD but definitely not worth paying to see on the big screen.

** out of 5 stars

Rated PG-13
Cast: Cameron Diaz, James Marsden, Frank Langella
Directed by: Richard Kelly
Official Site IMDb

brian.mckechnie@citynews.rogers.com

ALSO OPENING THIS WEEK: The Men Who Stare At Goats, The Fourth Kind, Inside Hana's Suitcase, Disney's A Christmas Carol, Gentlemen Broncos, When We Were Boys

Top image: Cameron Diaz and James Marsden in a scene from The Box. Courtesy Warner Bros.