Trois 2: La Boîte de Pandore

When I learned that "Pandora's Box" was finally coming to selected theaters located in Baltimore, I was more than thrilled. After viewing Rob Hardy's first film, "Trois", I was surprised to see that this young, up-and-coming director pushed the envelope with powerful dialogue and talented actors such as Gary Dourdan ("A Different World", "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation") and Kenya Moore ("Senseless"). "Trois" was definitely a must-see. Now with "Pandora's Box" Rob Hardy and his crew at Rainforest Productions have made another film that pushes the envelope even further.

"Pandora's Box" is about a psychologist named Mia (Monica Calhoun) who helps a troubled patient (Chrystale Wilson) deal with the untimely death of her husband (Tyson Beckford). But soon after, Mia finds her her own life being examined as she takes her patient's advice and becomes involved in the underworld of sexual empowerment. She then meets Hampton Hines (Michael Jai White), a mysterious stranger who Mia becomes intrigued by. As emotions grow strong and her marriage to her husband (Kristoff St. John) going down the drain, Mia commits several acts of adultery and infidelity with Hampton only to find herself getting even deeper in a world of sex, money and murder.

If you haven't seen this movie yet, you are missing out on a good and entertaining movie. But please remember to leave the kids at HOME!!!!

Metaphorically speaking, what begins as a tennis match abruptly becomes a one hour and forty-four minute game of chess (pronounced `chest'). But, perhaps that's what's wrong with this production. It's about forty-four minutes and one pair of breasts too much. Unfortunately, just like its predecessor (Trois), what coulda, shoulda, and woulda falls by the wayside of an underdeveloped script that's punctuated by lackluster acting.

Exceptional casting, however, sometimes redeems poor writing. But, in the case of `Trois 2,' the principals are written into such a `small world,' the logic inherent in each character action has to be questioned. At least by all who see beyond the T&A.

Personally, I tried very hard to stay intrigued by the visual affect of Black actors making moves in something other than a slapstick chitlin' circuit genre. But, here, the creative team gave new meaning to something other than something being old, borrowed, and blue. Unquestionably, there's `sampling' from `Jagged Edge' (the movie), `Consenting Adults,' `Basic Instinct,' and `Body Heat.'

As a matter of fact, `Body Heat's' William Hurt and `Trois 2's' Chrystale Wilson/Tyson Beckford even share the same last name characterwise. Duh! And, just why did Kristoff `Young and the Restless' St. John's character have to be named `Victor?' Duh!

But, then and again, when considering the `monstrous' performance of a certain other `tit-illating' actress who wound up becoming an award recipient, indeed, Pandora's box is symbolically wide open for who knows what.

I must admit that the main reason i decided to watch this last night is the absolutely breathtakingly stunning beauty of Crysthale Wilson at her imo physical/aesthetical peak. The movie is almost worth watching for that alone. As a movie i think it was a decent experience and that it's slightly underrated here on imdb. The cinematography seems a little amateurish, which is is probably due to a low budget. But the story isn't that bad, not anything spectacular of course- we're not talking Chinatown or even Basic Instinct here caliber here, but it has enough excitement to keep your attention for a while. It has some surprising and good twists towards the end. 6/10.

The independently produced PANDORA'S BOX finally made its way to a big screen in Columbia, SC in December 2002. Knowing that it was a follow-up to TROIS for director Rob Hardy, I didn't expect much, but I did expect to see an improvement in overall quality from what I saw in TROIS. PB failed to meet that expectation. In fact, I thought the quality of the film was worse than TROIS and anybody who thinks PANDORA'S BOX is good has very low standards for films.

Produced in Atlanta, PANDORA'S BOX appears to have been shot on a shoestring budget. The plot is pretty good but the script is so bad-- there are several grammatical challenges and lame dialogue at times-- the film never has a chance. Add some very flat acting and mediocre cinematography and you have the makings of something that is, well, not enjoyable.

Michael Jai White (Spawn, Half Past Dead), Monica Calhoun (The Best Man, The Player's Club) and Kristoff St. John (The Young and The Restless) star. All are decent actors in other films and on television but even their talents can't save this bad script. I was quite disappointed. Model Tyson Beckford also appears briefly in the film. No acting skills here. Just a body that most women would kill to see naked. And, they can in this movie.

Unfortunately, I saw a lot of flesh in the film that would have been better kept clothed. Calhoun is not the near perfectly shaped young woman she was in THE BEST MAN. At times, she looks as if she was in the early stages of pregnancy when the film was shot and we're still shown her bare belly. Crystale Wilson, who also appeared in THE PLAYER'S CLUB with Calhoun, is absolutely horrible in this film. She too should have kept her clothes on in the film or made the director hire better makeup and lighting artists. Her stretch marks were quite unappealing as was her mustache.

PANDORA'S BOX does have moments. Small flashes of brilliance. For instance, the opening scene is gripping. It's one of the few well shot sequences in the film. Sensual and suspenseful. For the most part, though, this film is woefully bad. So bad, one of the people in our group walked out midway through. He couldn't take it anymore and went to the lobby to play video games.

If this is the best Rob Hardy can do, he should pursue another career. I have a feeling he won't be able to sucker folks back to theaters to see another effort.

After the on slaught of the summer blockbuster bull of films,there is one film that is very entertaining and for once a breath of fresh air that is strictly for adults from the director who brought us "TROIS". However,this one is on the same wavelength as Stanley Kubrick's EYES WIDE SHUT,but it goes even further into the abyss of erotica--and for once this is one film that shows characters of color engaging in sexual scenes. However,the sexual scenes that are displayed here are not for the faint of heart---since this is a movie that is STRICTLY ADULT--so leave the kids and teenagers at home!

Its amazing that it was very good,since you have a brillant cast of performers here including superb leads by Monica Calhoun,whom gives the performance of her acting career(which is something this actress would never do since she always plays the second banana in feature films,but wanted to take her acting to the next level in a leading role)as a psychiarist who goes into a web of sexual intrigue,money,and murder from which there is no way out. However,the movie was very good and its playing in limited release in selected cities across the country(which opened nationwide September 27th,2002)but its a movie that should not be missed by a long shot,but remember this is not for the faint of heart!

This is also a rare opportunity to catch this director's current project which will be more intriguing and even darker than his previous efforts since we need more of that are catered to adult black audiences and also to bring a new format of black cimema to the next level. Kudos to you, Mr. Rob Hardy!