Think outside ‘The Box’

Based on “Button, Button” a short story by acclaimed fantasy and horror writer Richard Matheson, who also penned I Am Legend and What Dreams May Come, The Box stars Cameron Diaz and James Marsden as a couple presented with a sadistic version of Let’s Make a Deal. When a mysterious scarred stranger played by Frank Langella delivers a “gift” in the form of a small wooden box, he tells them they will receive $1 million if only they press the button found inside. The catch is that once the button is pressed someone they do not know somewhere in the world will die because of their decision. Directed by Richard Kelly, the young filmmaker best known for underground hit Donnie Darko, gets his best shot yet at Hollywood success after his excessive head scratcher Southland Tales failed to find an audience, or anyone who understood it. “Button, Button” was adapted into a well-known Twilight Zone episode in the 1980s, and fans of that series will certainly be interested in this mix of thrills, chills and moral crises. Rated PG-13.