At the Movies with Fatwayne

What would you do if a stranger delivered a mysterious box to you and gave you the choice of pressing the red button and receiving $1 million (tax free!) or returning the box back to him (you get to keep a crisp $100 bill for your troubles regardless of your decision). This is exactly the choice that Norma Lewis (Cameron Diaz) and Arthur Lewis (James Marsden) are faced with. They are living paycheck to paycheck and could certainly use the money but the caveat is that if the button is pressed, someone in the world that they do not know will die. The movie is placed in the 1970s when Gerald Ford was president and so this monetary tempation would go a whole lot further then it would today.

Arlington Steward (Frank Langella) is the stranger with half of his face burned off as a result of a lightning strike. Somehow he survives this event and emerges as “something else”.  Just what this is remains up to us as an audience to try to figure out. He gives the Lewis’ 24 hours to make their decision.

As could be expected, Norma and Arthur wrestle with the moral implications of their decision and Norma finally makes a  choice which could provide them with a financially happy life or one filled with  tragedy.

I found the movie to be interesting, well told and well acted. It takes quite a while to figure exactly what is going on and there are some points that I never did understand. Oh, me!  The ending left me less than satisfied and, in my opinion, did not complement an otherwise fine movie.

I will post quotations from the movie at  http://www.tvmoviequotes.com/thebox.htm

Rated – PG13 -

Fatwayne’s Rating  –  -