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THE BOXMovie Reviews
Science fiction tale about a 1970s suburban couple whose lives take a turn for the wild when they are given a mysterious box and informed that pressing various buttons on the box will grant them riches while killing a person unknown to them. Cast:Cameron Diaz, James Marsden, Frank LangellaDirector:Richard KellyRelease Date:November 6, 2009DVD Release:February 23, 2010From:Warner Bros.Rating:PG-13Length:1 hr 55 min
The Box played to weak reviews. Reviews were mixed. • Claudia Puig wrote in USA Today, "Though the concept is fascinating, director Richard Kelly has fashioned a preposterous tale that lacks the wit that made his 'Donnie Darko' a cult classic." • And David Denby wrote in the New Yorker, "If he pulls himself together, Richard Kelly could be the next Hitchcock." More Reviews Below...
The Box Positive Reviews (23 Reviews, reviews below)
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: FAIR(cg) "...plays like the world's murkiest 'Twilight Zone' episode.... Richard Kelly has talent, but for his next movie, he might try coming down to earth..."(See all of Owen Gleiberman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 382 words, 11/13/09
David Germain, Associated Press: POOR(cg) "...awful, preposterous... as empty as the heroines' heads in Diaz's 'Charlie's Angels' flicks.... wallows through superficial soul-searching and sermonizing..."(See all of David Germain's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 531 words, 11/05/09
Claudia Puig, USA Today: WEAK(cg) "Though the concept is fascinating, director Richard Kelly has fashioned a preposterous tale that lacks the wit that made his 'Donnie Darko' a cult classic."(See all of Claudia Puig's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 307 words, 11/06/09
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NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES/CHICAGO/TORONTO (8 Reviews)
Manohla Dargis, New York Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...sincere and sinister and inevitably ambitious, a serious work that insists on its own seriousness even when it edges toward the preposterous..."(See all of Manohla Dargis's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 985 words, 11/06/09
Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: POOR(cg) "...sprawls sloppily, encompassing unexplained aliens, a screechy score, preposterous special effects, and two stars with no idea what they're doing."(See all of Elizabeth Weitzman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 349 words, 11/06/09
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: VERY GOOD(cg) "This movie kept me involved and intrigued, and for that I'm grateful. I'm beginning to wonder whether, in some situations, absurdity might not be a strength."(See all of Roger Ebert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 640 words, 11/05/09
Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: POOR "What the plot doesn't decimate, the film's slower-than-a-clogged-drain pacing does. Sadly, this is one box that's just not worth picking up off the porch, much less opening..."(See all of Betsy Sharkey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 745 words, 11/06/09
Lou Lumenick, New York Post: POOR(cg) "...this great-looking but ultimately deeply confusing and unscary sci-fi/horror opus turns into a quite boring rehash of M. Night Shyamalan's post-'Signs' films."(See all of Lou Lumenick's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 373 words, 11/06/09
J. Hoberman, Village Voice/LA Weekly: WEAK "Precise and measured in its often-inexplicable special effects, the movie inexorably devolves from po-faced sub-Lynchean menace to soggy Kubrickian metaphysics."(See all of J. Hoberman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 558 words, 11/05/09
Norman Wilner, Toronto Now: WEAK(cg) "By the time it plays out its final movement, with Diaz and Marsden frantically puzzling out another life-altering challenge, it's awfully difficult to connect with the characters..."(See all of Norman Wilner's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 563 words, 11/12/09
KEY CITIES (5 Reviews)
Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: WEAK(cg) "...a sophomorically obvious sermon about greed and altruism. It shouldn't take a rocket scientist to figure out the difference, but in Richard Kelly's world, it does."(See all of Ann Hornaday's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 388 words, 11/07/09
Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: VERY GOOD(cg) "...the pleasure of this movie is that we can feel it more than we can entirely understand it.... the work of a visionary flirting with commercialism..."(See all of Wesley Morris's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 707 words, 11/07/09
Stephen Whitty, Cleveland Plain-Dealer: VERY GOOD(cg) "There are characters here, and issues worth arguing over. And whatever his failings, a director who clearly knows how to push our buttons."(See all of Stephen Whitty's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 597 words, 11/06/09
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: VERY GOOD(cg) "Richard Kelly, of 'Donnie Darko' fame, succeeds when he emphasizes the weird and the cryptic and stumbles as he injects Clarke's 'Childhood's End' into the proceedings."(See all of Roger Moore's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 778 words, 11/06/09
Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: VERY GOOD(cg) "Richard Kelly is talented enough to make you consider his admittedly far-fetched ideas through sheer craft (the movie looks fantastic) and his direction of his actors."(See all of Rene Rodriguez's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 656 words, 11/06/09
ALTERNATIVE/INDIE PRESS (6 Reviews)
J. Hoberman, Village Voice/LA Weekly: WEAK "Precise and measured in its often-inexplicable special effects, the movie inexorably devolves from po-faced sub-Lynchean menace to soggy Kubrickian metaphysics."(See all of J. Hoberman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 558 words, 11/05/09
Chris Faraone, Boston Phoenix: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...a morbid choose-your-own adventure thoroughfare. 'The Box,' though masterfully illustrated, fails to think outside one."(See all of Chris Faraone's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 148 words, 11/12/09
Norman Wilner, Toronto Now: WEAK(cg) "By the time it plays out its final movement, with Diaz and Marsden frantically puzzling out another life-altering challenge, it's awfully difficult to connect with the characters..."(See all of Norman Wilner's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 563 words, 11/12/09
HIGHBROW PRESS (3 Reviews)
Manohla Dargis, New York Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...sincere and sinister and inevitably ambitious, a serious work that insists on its own seriousness even when it edges toward the preposterous..."(See all of Manohla Dargis's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 985 words, 11/06/09
David Denby, New Yorker: MODERATE "...makes the bizarre, the surreal, and the frightening emerge from normal reality.... If he pulls himself together, Richard Kelly could be the next Hitchcock."(See all of David Denby's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 446 words, 11/09/09
Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: POOR "What the plot doesn't decimate, the film's slower-than-a-clogged-drain pacing does. Sadly, this is one box that's just not worth picking up off the porch, much less opening..."(See all of Betsy Sharkey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 745 words, 11/06/09
MOVIE INDUSTRY (4 Reviews)
Jordan Mintzer, Daily Variety: FAIR "...an effort to show how good writer-director Richard Kelly is at thinking out of 'The Box,' when what's really needed is a glimpse inside at something more credible..."(See all of Jordan Mintzer's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 842 words, 10/29/09
Kirk Honeycutt, Hollywood Reporter: WEAK "...convoluted yet unconvincing... the plot winds its way through suspense, psychological thriller, science fiction, conspiracy theory and horror genres..."(See all of Kirk Honeycutt's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 804 words, 11/04/09
Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: POOR "What the plot doesn't decimate, the film's slower-than-a-clogged-drain pacing does. Sadly, this is one box that's just not worth picking up off the porch, much less opening..."(See all of Betsy Sharkey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 745 words, 11/06/09
Manohla Dargis, New York Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...sincere and sinister and inevitably ambitious, a serious work that insists on its own seriousness even when it edges toward the preposterous..."(See all of Manohla Dargis's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 985 words, 11/06/09
21.2 Percentage Points Average Difference Between Reviews (Norm is 18.4pp; <18.4pp = More Consistent; >18.4pp = More Mixed)
The Box's reviews are separated by an average 21.2 percentage points. The norm for this measure is 18.4 percentage points. Less than 18.4 indicates more consistent reviews; greater than 18.4 indicates more mixed reviews. In the chart below, each dot represents a review, with the dots at the top more positive than the dots at the bottom. From left to right, the dots represent reviews in big, bigger and biggest publications. Roll over each dot for more detail.
The Box (23 reviews) Roll over dots for each review
Coverage:The Box's reviews cover 44.7% of potential readers (average is 67.9%). Volume:The film's reviews total 12,496 words involume (average is 20,194 words). Length:The film's reviews average 543 words in length (the norm is 517 words).
The Box Coverage, Volume & Length (23 Reviews, reviews below)
Reviews Broke 27.3 Hours After Release (Norm is 1.2 Release)
The Box's reviews on average broke 27.3 hours after opening. Norm for this measure is 1.2 hours before. The chart below shows reviews on opening day and the days before and after opening; the left side is earlier and the right side is later. The red bars extending above the horizontal mid-line represent more positive reviews, and the red bars extending below represent more negative reviews. The white space/red bar in the middle is The Box's opening day. Click on any bar for a list of the reviews for that day.
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