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Cast

Cameron Diaz
as Norma Lewis

James Marsden
as Arthur Lewis

Frank Langella
as Arlington Steward

James Rebhorn
as Norm Cahill

Holmes Osborne
as Dick Burns

Gillian Jacobs
as Dana

Sam Oz Stone
as Walter Lewis

Celia Weston
as Lana Burns

Deborah Rush
as Clymene Steward

Lisa K. Wyatt
as Rhonda Martin

Mark S. Cartier
as Martin Teague

Kevin Robertson
as Wendell Matheson

Michele Durrett
as Rebecca Matheson

Michele Durett
as Rebecca Matheson

Ian Kahn
as Vick Brenner

John Magaro
as Charles

Ryan Woodle
as Jeffrey Carnes

Scott Winters
as CIA Man

Basil Hoffman
as Don Poates

Robert Harvey
as NASA Executive #1

Gentry Lee
as Chief Engineer

Andrew Levitas
as Black Op

Gabriel Field
as Waiter

Frank Ridley
as Detective Starrs

Daniel Stewart Sherman
as Police Officer #1

Matthew C. Flynn
as Police Officer #2

Patrick Eugene Canty
as Police Officer #3

Sam Blumenfeld
as Timothy

Kevin DeCoste
as Malcolm

Mary Klug
as Female Neighbor

Allyssa Maurice
as Suzanne Weller

Danielle Heaton
as Estelle

Rachael Hunt
as Inez

Michael Zegen
as Garcin

Rachel Hunt
as Inez

Cheryl McMahon
as Female 911 Operator

Evelina Oboza
as Deborah Burns

Bill Buell
as Dr. Earl Stupe

Paul Marini
as Santa Claus

Don Warnock
as Doctor Y

W. Kirk Avery
as Doctor Z

Don Hewitt
as Employee

Floyd Richardson
as Employee

Dave McDonough
as Employee

Rick L'Heureux
as Chase Employee

Nicholas Cairis
as Chase Employee

Robert Denton
as Chase Employee

Paul Locke
as Chase Employee

Danny DeMiller
as Chase Employee

Jenna Lamia
as Voice of Diane Carnes

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News & Interviews for The Box

Critic Reviews for The Box

Audience Reviews for The Box

• Oct 08, 2015

  Normally when a film has many bad reviews I get interested since the film is likely very good or very bad. Surprisingly, The Box is only an average film. It is not reminiscent of Donnie Darko since it is not at all stylized. The Box watches like a Twilight Zone episode made into a two hour movie. If you enjoy generally creepy / weird shows and are OK with them not delivering an explanation (e.g. Lost) then you will probably enjoy The Box.
  Robert B Super Reviewer
• Oct 30, 2014

  The Box is a nebulous psychological thriller from writer/director Richard Kelly. Based on a Richard Matheson short story, a young couple is presented with an offer to receive $1 million if they push a button, but as a result someone will die. Starring Cameron Diaz, James Marsden, and Frank Langella, the casting is pretty good. But the script is a convoluted mess. It teases out some fascinating mysteries, but they devolve into inexplicable nonsense. Still, Kelly is able to create an atmospheric mood and builds the suspense incredibly well. Yet ultimately, The Box is a poorly executed film that loses its sense of mystery by getting caught up in minutia.
  Dann M Super Reviewer
• Mar 09, 2012

  The Box is not meant to scare you at all, but its meant to creep you out with its good atmosphere and fine performances from its three leads, but the plot could confuse you and it might bore you because of the lack of scares. But once again, this is not a horror movie, its a suspense/thriller movie! I found it not great, but good, and the ending is tragic and very creepy.
  Angel G Super Reviewer
• Jan 13, 2012

  *** out of **** A movie as perplexing as "The Box" is a rare find, especially when it's a very mainstream picture. But then again, it isn't easy to imagine that Richard Kelly, whose breakthrough feature was the illusive and fascinating "Donnie Darko", is capable of making a mainstream movie for Hollywood. But if he ever did, this would be it. Now, I know that it isn't easy to enjoy or even appreciate a movie like this on first glance - heck, I didn't even like it upon my initial viewing - but I'm a strong believer that anything Richard Kelly directs is worth looking at least a second look, if not a third. With all three of his movies so far, I've gone back and revisited their labyrinths of beauty and sometimes all-out frustration; and all but once, my desire for a greater understanding of the material has been met and satisfied. In my opinion, that's the magic of a Richard Kelly film; there is almost always intelligence, underneath the surface, even if the surface is rough and unconventional. It is early morning, and the ring of a doorbell wakes the Lewis family - Norma (Cameron Diaz), Arthur (James Marsden), and son Walter -, revealing a box left on their doorstep by some anonymous person who takes off almost instantly in a black car. Norma takes the box inside, and for the rest of the morning, the family ponders it. However, they have lives to return to (Norma is a High School teacher; Arthur works for NASA), so they put these thoughts on hold, at least, until they return home. This is when the man who delivered the box stops by the house for a nice chat, in which he introduces himself - as Arlington Steward (Frank Langella) - and informs Norma of the purpose that the box intends to serve. During his visit, Mr. Steward explains that under the glass dome that sits at the top of the box is a little red button. To push the button would mean two things: somebody in the world, unbeknownst to the Lewis family, would die, and also, they would receive a payment of one million dollars. While the guilt of being responsible for the death of another troubles Norma; the family needs financial support, and Arthur doesn't seem to be (currently) capable of providing that and neither does she. So once Mr. Steward leaves and Arthur comes home; they make their final decision on what to do. Ultimately, Norma pushes the button; and promptly, Steward returns to supply them with their promised payment. And it's assumed that this is the end, but in fact, it's just the beginning. The film successfully toys with our minds for quite some time; there's a cold-blooded murder committed nearby where the Lewis' live; which involved a husband, who was reported to be kindly and perfectly civilized, shooting his wife dead and frightening his young daughter, who the police later found locked in the household bathroom. There's the possibility that this could be the person that the Lewis' killed through their decision to push the button; but by the time the story has advanced more after this scene, it becomes clear that even more possibilities are, well, possible. In the opinions of many, that might be confusing and infuriating; but to me, it's intriguing, and it demonstrates plenty of skill on Kelly's part. "The Box" certainly proves a lot of things, but above all, it proves that Kelly can craft an engaging and intelligent mystery-suspense story, working from a short story by Richard Matheson. The film is at one moment absurd, and another kind of believable. Setting the story in the 1970's was quite possibly Kelly's best choice; since back then, you could still have door-to-door salesmen (which Mr. Steward KIND OF is), and thus setting it in a more modern time would have come off as just completely unbelievable. Sure, there are still elements of the story - in the form of plot holes - that are difficult to accept or let alone fully comprehend, but this seems like a personal piece for Kelly, and it brings back memories of "Darko". That could of course mean different things for everyone; but to me it means a return to the flawed complexities of Kelly's wicked, brilliant, dark imagination. There are scenes of striking visual beauty here (the cinematography is gorgeous); such as one where Arthur meets Steward's "wife" in a library, where she leads him to a room in which three rectangular water blocks rise up and act as a sort of gateway, each on representing something different. But only one leads to salvation, as the wife says. There's also a really cool and interesting aspect of the story that Kelly toys around with for a while; that Mr. Steward has employees, even though he claims to have an employer himself; perhaps he's just high up there on his obscure food-chain of...whatever. Anyways, these "employees" are like mindless zombies; and they pop up to spy on the Lewis family whenever they get suspicious of Steward's actions, the box, and his identity. The employees alone create some of the film's creepiest and most tense moments; although Kelly is able to create suspense and atmosphere otherwise, which is good, because no one wants a movie entirely devoted to the employees rather than the employers, even if they aren't even talked about at great length, or with great depth. Oh well, at least the random nosebleeds got some whacky explanation. So while it may be confusing and in need of a slightly improved Director's Cut somewhere down the road (you know, to fill up the plot holes); "The Box" is still a thoroughly engaging mystery that keeps the intrigue and distant fascination consistent throughout. It isn't perfectly entertaining to my taste, but I couldn't look away; seeing it the second time introduced me to a whole new movie, one that rewards its audience as long as they're willing to suspend their disbelief. It has all the qualities of a Richard Kelly movie: a mish-mash of many different philosophical and existential themes, what seems or looks like time travel, and Holmes Osborne. It's not perfect, and it's not going to impress a lot of people (particularly those who can't get over a few silly lines of stupid dialogue and some illogical concepts); but I still liked it nevertheless, for what it was, and what it aspires to be. It makes it possible for me to forget "Southland Tales" all-together and acknowledge that Kelly has the skills to back up his many ideas; with "The Box", he still does, and there's a sense that he always will.
  Ryan M Super Reviewer

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