The Box

Was the absolute worst. His scenes were painful to watch due to his overacting. Just painful. Otherwise, pretty ok movie, Gabby did good.

The Box (2007) is a movie that I recently watched on Tubi. The storyline follows two detectives investigating a crime scene filled with dead bodies that know there's something much bigger than murder that led to the dead bodies. They interview a series of whitenesses and try to uncover what happened and why.

This movie is written and directed by A. J. Kparr in his directorial debut. This picture stars Gabrielle Union (Bad Boys II), Giancarlo Esposito (Breakin Bad), Yul Vazquez (The Outsider), A. J. Buckley (Narcos), RZA (The Man with the Iron Fist) and Anjelah Johnson-Reyes (The Book of Life).

This movie doesn't have much going for it. The cast is very good but under utilized. The dialogue is cliche and stale and the circumstances are predictable and nothing special. The twist ending wasn't that clever.

Overall, there's absolutely nothing about this film that's memorable. I would score this a 3/10 and recommend skipping it.

"The Box" begins with flashes of gunfire inside a house and a police unit moving into position. Inside the house, the cops discover a stack of bodies and two survivors amongst the carnage. The first is the quiet Finn Williams (Yul Vasquez) who had been enjoying an evening with his friends, one of whom was looking after the house for its owner. The second is Danny Schamus (A J Buckley) who had been one of three men who had invaded the house with loaded weapons in search of the titular box. The two survivors are then interrogated by Detectives Romano (Gabrielle Union) and Burkhalter (Giancarlo Esposito) as to what actually happened.

Despite similarities to "The Usual Suspects" in both its structure and the way it plays with fact versus fiction, "The Box" is ultimately let down by its mediocre script (which relies on a LOT of annoying coincidences) and flat, boring direction. It has the spark of a good idea as the audience is given two depictions of events and invited to choose which - if either - is correct. However, the plot simply isn't strong enough to carry its running time (I started checking my watch around the hour mark) and is hindered by such awful scenes as a couple lying upon a bed as slushy romantic music plays around them. The resolution also decides to throw as many plot twists at the audience as possible and hopes that some of them stick. They don't.

The actors, on the whole, are fine with Max Ryan giving the best performance of the movie as the unhinged Ray Kamen who leads the three home invaders (the scene where he begins hopping around a room like a bunny rabbit in front of a man he's torturing manages to be both funny and unnerving at the same time).

Overall, "The Box" is annoying because it had the potential to be a lot better. I found it less entertaining than an episode of "C.S.I", and it was instantly forgettable afterwards. Instead of renting this movie, I'd recommend watching "The Usual Suspects" instead (even if you've already seen it) or perhaps "Lucky Number Sleven". This box isn't worth opening.

A friend of mine saw this at the San Diego Film Festival and told me about it and that Giancarlo Esposito was in it (a very underrated talent). For Esposito alone, I picked it up and I was quite pleased. I like what the first time helmer Kparr did with a relatively unknown cast, except for Esposito and Gabrielle Union (who I was extremely surprised, but I'll speak on her later). The story was a solid crime, thriller. I know hardcore film geeks, who live to pick stuff apart will try to find flaws, but hell American Gangster had flaws, with two Oscar winners in front the camera and another who scribed that "celluloid gold". But back to "The Box". Being that this flick was working with a handful of sets, I dug the look. And as far as performances, the guy playing Kamen and the guy playing Danny were standouts (I want to see more of them), Esposito (always on point) and Yul Vasquez was good, the guy playing Tommy kind of phoned it in, but the biggest surprise for me was Gabrielle Union. The director made a daring bit of casting with Gabrielle Union as a tough as nails policeman. I know her as the spunky cheerleader or the sexy siren that Morris Chestnut or Taye Diggs is running after in a flick, but this role I'd never see her playing, but she rocked it. Actors have defining roles in their careers and right now in her somewhat young career this is it. I give this director much credit for getting that performance and writing a solid story. I want to see has next in store.

This movie is so full of twists. Every ten minutes it seems there is a new story about how the event happened. One thing I did like is the way the movie got it's title was explained near the end so that was one thing I didn't have to wonder about. The actors were OK but the direction was just average. At the end I am still am confused. Oh You know where all the characters fit into the story but the ending failed to tie all the strings together. It was a movie that ended just before the story was over. It seems today several movies have ended that way. It's almost as if they are planning for a second part in another movie. I can say this much about the plot. Like so many dramas the motive is greed and you won't see who's greed it was, coming. One viewing was enough, twice would be way to much.