Monster in a Box

His voice projects every emotion imaginable in a matter of seconds...fear, confusion, sarcasm, irony, sadness, hope, happiness, etc., etc. Spalding Gray is a different kind of performer, a man whose monologues have continued to enthrall and inspire me ever since I first came across them. In "Monster in a Box", Gray recounts the years he spent writing a massive nearly 2,000 page semi autobiographical novel after his mother's suicide. Constantly being sidetracked by his own, absurd misadventures, Gray's life becomes a whirlwind of comic mischief and insightful self reflection.

This piece allows the viewer to get inside the head of one of the performing arts' most underrated geniuses. Gray thankfully left his mark on the world before unfortunately deciding to have his own experience with suicide, one that be rid America of one of its greatest, funniest, and most unique talents. "Monster in a Box" is among his very best work as it combines all of the elements that made his work so fantastic and entertaining, particularly his humor and heart. Often outwardly wacky and quirkily comical, this film also contains moments of subtle poignancy. Whether this is truly a tragedy or a comedy by nature is up to the audience to decide. From my perspective, it further proves my ongoing theory that life is neither tragedy nor comedy, but rather a whirlwind of those two emotions; two emotions that aren't as clearly defined as we seem to think they are, two emotions far more similar than they appear.

It isn't a movie but a monologue performance on film and a really good monologuist performance by Spaulding Gray. Anecdotes embellished for storytelling are patterned to fit in with flashbacks to the "Impossible Vacation" that sits atop the desk.

Gray theatrically converses with the audience and other viewers of the performance, at times with the minimalist-synthesized score by Laurie Anderson to accentuate the mood. You will feel both the attempt for Gray to come full circle and the subtle depression Gray exudes through his retrospections well into the performance.

Anyone who has lost someone close to mental illness or has lived a life like that of Spaulding Gray will empathize as they watch this series of strange adventures into writing, acting, relationships, society, and the simile of personal solitude to self-realization whenever experiences unexpected encounters through one's own ambling.

Gray can make the English language jump through hoops like none other. He recounts a number of events, tied together by his writing of a manuscript (the "Monster" of the title), some sad, some uproariously funny, all in his characteristic, sarcastic manner. If you liked "Swimming to Cambodia" you will love this one. I actually thought this was a bit more interesting and better told than "Swimming to Cambodia". A real masterpiece.

in his descriptions of CAA, platinum card lunches in Hollywood, psychoanalysis, a vacation in Provincetown he never took, and free trips to Nicaragua, financed by Columbia pictures.

It sounds narcissistic, but Spalding Gray (possibly because of his unusual personality) ropes the audience in, laughs at himself (perhaps because he did not take the Hollywood thing oh-so-seriously) and gets us to care.

This monologue is not just about "The Killing Fields", or "Swimming to Cambodia"; it is more a pastiche of events, as he sees them. Some of the lines are classic, as when Gray meets with the esteemed talent agents at CAA. The conference table is ..."full of them, tanned, healthy, fresh from drinking blue-green algae from an Oregon lake...there are no drugs now in Hollywood".

This was before the tragedy occurred. Many of us will miss his off-balance humor. 9/10.

I watched this mainly because I liked "Swimming to Cambodia," but for me this is a lesser effort. It takes no small ego to think that you can keep people's interest for ninety minutes by sitting at a desk and telling what's been happening to you for the last several years. Gray has more success at this than most, but the stories he tells here about living in Los Angeles, traveling to Nicaragua, dealing with an AIDS scare, being the stage manager in a production of "Our Town," and so on, just did not captivate me.

The music, sound effects, lighting changes, and varying camera angles (that I presume were intended to make this monologue more interesting) I found distracting. And Gray himself engages in some unnecessary histrionics.

This film is not without its moments but I doubt that I will remember much about it in a week. It will be best appreciated by more devoted Spaulding Gray fans than I.