Playlist: The Box

As maybe the only person not related to director Richard Kelly to like his beautiful mess of a sci-fi epic, Southland Tales (his much-anticipated follow-up to Donnie Darko), I admit I had some mixed feelings upon seeing the trailer for this film. On one hand, I’m easily hooked by Pop Quiz, Hotshot, what would you do? questions—in this case, would you press a button left my a mysterious stranger and receive $1 million…while also causing the death of a stranger somewhere in the world? On the other hand, I was concerned about the premise’s legs and was picturing a "Twilight Zone" episode (a good thing), but quadrupled in length (not so much).


Oh, me of little faith. Kelly answered the big question early on and then refolded the story into a completely different shape. True to form, he probably overextended himself and just missed sticking the landing. But, it’s important to factor in the degree of difficulty before submitting your final score. (I have no idea how I got caught up in this gymnastics metaphor, but I might have to dismount this paragraph…)

(Better.) Kelly has made a commitment to following his artistic vision down whatever wormhole it takes him. His movies are decidedly his and I appreciate that ambition to leave his mark on the profession. He has always struck me as a poor man's Darren Aronofsky, though that's not really fair at all. He's leaving his own mark in his own way and I think he is getting close to making a truly great film. (Chances are it will never get made, but he wrote an adaptation of my favorite book, Cat's Cradle. Kurt Vonnegut has been notoriously difficult to translate to film, but Kelly might be the one to crack the code.)

What I like as a viewer about Kelly and other "auteurs" is the palpable confidence that comes off the screen, that comfort in knowing the filmmaker, regardless of result, was heading to Point B the minute we all left Point A. We always complain about the toothless, generic dreck that gets pushed on us by Hollywood, so I think it's important to applaud someone who is at least trying to give us something more.

One last thing: I’m not sure how I feel about James Marsden (this isn't random--he's in this). I think I’m genetically predisposed to disliking him and his usual casting as Johnny Handsome. But I can't say I actually dislike him in anything. In fact, I think he's generally been pretty good in often thankless roles. Hmm...