Despite early synopses of the film more comparable to a grounded ‘Hitchcockian’ thriller than any of his previous sci-fi-based efforts, Richard Kelly has evidently returned to his old stomping ground in the newly-released trailer for his upcoming film, “The Box.” It simply looks like a corny B-movie and an extended episode for the “Twilight Zone” with an even thinner-plot (the economic angle reminds of the other paper-thin camp horror this year, “Drag Me To Hell”).
Starring James Marsden and Cameron Diaz (is this a budget B-list cast or just perfect B-movie casting?) as protagonists Arthur and Norma Lewis, the film centers on the suburban couple who receive a simple wooden box as a gift from a mysterious stranger (played by Frank Langella with a crazy scar on his face) who informs them that the box promises to bestow upon its owner $1 million with the press of a button. Pressing this button, though, will simultaneously cause the death of another human being somewhere in the world, someone they don’t know. With the box in their possession for just 24 hours, the financially-stricken couple find themselves in a moral dilemma and must face the true nature of their humanity.
Based on Richard Matheson’s short story “Button, Button,” Kelly recently discussed his attempt to draw strong influence from the source material for his film. “There’s Matheson’s pedigree and the fact that the story takes place in 1976. With all of those elements together, I felt like I wanted this to have an old-fashioned quality, to have that feeling you get when you watch those old ‘Twilight Zone’ episodes – but also to feel like a 1970s picture in a way. I wanted it to feel like it was made in the ’70s, like with that style of photography.”
The trailer, though, exhibits a film run through with Kelly-isms such as oddly dressed characters standing in the middle of the road (though it is set in the ’70s), the manipulation of eerie, warp-like substances and strange fantastical sequences all of which have been seen before in his debut effort “Donnie Darko.” Whether the similarities are due to the studio trying to capture the cult Kelly audience with marketing or that the film, in actual fact, will play out similarly to his previous efforts remains to be seen. But surely after “Southland Tales,” Kelly has to put the extremities of his personal ambitions and aspirations aside for the sake of potential box office performance and mainstream appeal?
Speaking on the film’s direction, Kelly cryptically noted: “[Arthur and Norma] have to become detectives in act two and act three. And Arlington [Langella’s character] knows that. It almost becomes a game that they play. They’re playing into his hand. And then it’s “Can Arlington be conquered? Can he be defeated? And can they discover the identity of his employers?” – which is something that is ultimately to be debated. I hope it’s one of the big things that is debated about the film. There’s a lot to chew on when you leave the theater.”
Also seen partially in the trailer is the fx-laden face of Frank Langella’s character which is akin to that of Aaron Eckhart in “The Dark Knight.” Kelly has preemptively brushed off comparisons to AICN citing a meeting he held with Nolan regarding potential similarities.
“When I was editing the film around May of 2008, when Chris Nolan was putting the finishing touches on ‘The Dark Knight,’ I went to his editing house, met him and his wife, and they showed me Two-Face’s digital makeup to make sure that what they were doing wasn’t too similar to what we were doing with Langella – which was cool. We were in completely different places, but it was still pushing into new territory in terms of digital makeup.”
“The Box” hits theatres October 30th. Halloween! Go figure.