The story, like so many of the Twilight Zone scripts, is a simple one. A couple, Norma (Cameron Diaz) and Arthur Lewis (James Marsden), get a present from the mysterious, disfigured Arlington Steward (Frank Langella). It’s a box with a button. They have a choice. If they push the button, someone in the world they do not know will die, but they will get $1,000,000 in 1976 money. If they don’t push the button within 24 hours, the offer is void, the box is removed, and they can live their lives unmolested. I’d try to explain the plot a little more, but I’m not really sure I understand it that well myself. It’s very confusing, and there’s a whole lot going on, as you’d expect from the combo of Matheson and Kelly, but the one thing you can say about The Box is that it stays riveting throughout most of the story. Just when you think things are starting to turn for the better for our heroes, Arlington pops up again to throw another wrinkle in the plot. The movie moves very slowly at times, but it slides so smoothly from section to section and through the plot that you don’t really notice how slow it’s going, aside from a few moments that seemed to be a little long. It’s like being in a pressure cooker, with the plot slowly closing in on you and the tension slowly rising until you’re on the edge of your seat, waiting for the denouement. I can’t really give the film a perfect rating as it is a little long at 115 minutes and there are moments that could stand a trimming, but the real reason I can’t rate it perfectly is that I need to see it again. And possibly a third time. It’s one of those movies that I can tell I’m going to be watching and chewing on for months after the DVD comes out, kind of like I did with The Usual Suspects. There’s so much going on and so many little connections that I guarantee I missed more than a few things about the grand conspiracy. This is a very rich, very dense movie, and I love Richard Kelly’s intricate oddness. Even knowing how things work out, I know there are a lot of subtle things going on that I’ve missed. I love a good conspiracy movie anyway, and this is what the X-Files movies wish they could have been. I’m anxious to get my hands on the DVD.