The Kovak Box (2006)

A sci-fi writer (Hutton) is invited to an island for a conference, only to discover that he's become lured into a trap.

Director:

Daniel Monzón

Writers:

Daniel Monzón (screenplay), Jorge Guerricaechevarría (screenplay)

Stars:

Timothy Hutton, Lucía Jiménez, David Kelly

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Timothy Hutton	...	David Norton
Lucía Jiménez	...	Silvia
David Kelly	...	Frank Kovak
Georgia Mackenzie	...	Jane
Gary Piquer	...	Jaume
Annette Badland	...	Kathy
Iván Morales	...	Charlie
Colin Stinton	...	Encargado Consulado
Nicholas Boulton	...	Funcionario Consulado
Jeff Harding	...	Gerente Sanatorio
Jorge Bosch	...	Forense
Luis Callejo	...	Encargado Cuevas
Daniel Strauss	...	Médico Silvia (as Dan Strauss)
Molly Malcolm	...	Psicóloga
Keith Bartlett	...	Admirador

Storyline

A sci-fi writer (Hutton) is invited to an island for a conference, only to discover that he's become lured into a trap.

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Plot Keywords:

hand tattoo | flying on a airliner | rapid eye movement | street musician | laughing at a horror movie | 

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Taglines:

You're trapped... and you don't even know it.

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Genres:

Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some violent and disturbing content, language and brief nudity

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

Spain UK

Language:

English Spanish German

Release Date:

12 January 2007 (Spain)

Also Known As:

A Caixa Kovak

Filming Locations:

Madrid, Spain

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

€495,094 (Spain), 12 January 2007, Limited Release

Company Credits

Production Co:

Filmax, Estudios Picasso, Castelao Producciones

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

In the end credits the word "Psychologist" appears as "Phsycologist".

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Quotes

Jaume: She survived, but her name was in the list!

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Connections

Features Arachnid (2001)

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Soundtracks

Gloomy Sunday
(Original Title: Szomorú Vasárnap)
Music and Lyrics (1933) by Rezsö Seress and László Jávor
English Lyrics (1936) by Sam Lewis (as Sam M. Lewis)
Performed by Billie Holiday (vocals), Teddy Wilson (piano), Al Casey (guitar), James Charles J.C. Heard (as J.C. Heard) (drums), Emmett Berry (as Emmet Berry) (trumpet), John Williams (bass), Hymie Schertzer (alto saxophone, clarinet), Babe Russin (tenor saxophone, clarinet) and Jimmy Hamilton (clarinet)
Recorded in New York on 7th August 1941
Published by Editio Musica Budapest
Courtesy of Sony BMG Music Entertainment España

User Reviews

A big could-have-been

"La caja Kovak" follows American science-fiction best-selling author David Norton (Timothy Hutton), who goes on a part business, part pleasure trip to the Spanish island of Mallorca with his girlfriend. He proposes to her and she accepts. On that very night, she jumps off their hotel balcony and kills herself after a short stay at the local hospital. In the bed next to her is Sylvia (Lucía Jiménez), a young woman who found herself jumping off the balcony without having any recollection of how and why she did it. Both women did it right after their phone rang and the song "Gloomy Sunday" began to play on the other end of the line. Together, David and Sylvia decide to try and solve the mystery.

The introduction is well done and it lures you into watching more, wanting to know how a song can make apparently normal people want to kill themselves. However, it evolves into a bizarre and not always efficient mix of thriller and science-fiction that completely fails to keep up the suspenseful and supernatural tone of the start, and is in fact rather dull and inconclusive at times. The characters are also quite poorly written -except for David Kelly's character maybe, the most interesting of the whole bunch- and they become quite predictable, as is the ending. Also, many clues thrown in along the way are never properly answered to.

All in all, it's an okay movie, one to watch and easily forget.