8 November 2009 5:21 AM, PST | Studio Briefing - Film News | See recent Studio Briefing - Film News news »
How much you’re likely to enjoy The Box may well depend on how well you are able to deal with preposterous story lines. Indeed, that word -- “preposterous” -- crops up in many, if not most, of the reviews of the film. In her mixed review, Manohla Dargis in the New York Times regards The Box as “a serious work that insists on its own seriousness even when it edges toward the preposterous.” However, Claudia Puig in USA Today writes that “director Richard Kelly has fashioned a preposterous tale that lacks the wit that made his Donnie Darko a cult classic.” Elizabeth Weitzman in the New York Daily News scoffs at the movie’s “preposterous special effects.” But Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times, while acknowledging that “preposterous” is “one of my favorite adjectives,” nevertheless goes on to write, “If you make a preposterous movie that isn't boring, I count that as some kind of a triumph.” He concludes: “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.” But “boring” is indeed the operative word for several critics. “Have you ever actually tried watching paint dry? A sloth walk? Grass grow?” Asks Betsy Sharkey in the Los Angeles Times. “You can have all the ‘thrills’ with none of the chills courtesy of The Box.” »
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