While I don't think it's the best film of the year, I agree it's great.. not to the level of Donnie Darko though. This clearly shows Kelly is a master director.

Clearly Mr. Orange, you are insane on this one. Nearly every element in the film is non-synchronous with every other element and not in a good way.

Like what?

WOW - I was going to give this a miss, but after that review I will be first in line at the theatre.

@ Michael

The writer in you will love it I think. The filmmaker in you may think "I'd have done that differently." However you slice it though, it's a smart movie. You should dig it.

Wow a positive review. So that makes it positive reviews, 3, negatives reviews, 7 million.

Well, when one of the film's supporters is Roger Ebert I'd say I'm in good company ;)

I guess that makes me number 3. I loved it. I never thought I'd say this, but... Stanley Kubrick might not be dead after all. I hope Kelly keeps up the great work.

Agentorange, Andrew & myself go over the film quite thoroughly over at rowthree.com in the latest podcast. Too much exposition, not enough narrative glue, and just a tad too much borrowing from Kaufman's Invasion of the Body Snatchers. The character motivations are contrived and shackled to plot in infuriating ways and I simply cannot buy Ms. Diaz teaching Sartre. the choice at the end and the resolution are shakey and the afterlife stuff makes little sense and is too quick to be evokative of much beyond plot contrivance. The Kid was awful and pointess other than to provide plot motiviations from the main characters.

If you want 'the next Kubrick' watch Jonathan Glazer's Birth which gets it all right down to the soundtrack, the menace and the metaphysical; rather than The Box which is bloated and ugly and rather pointless.

Kurt said: "the choice at the end and the resolution are shakey and the afterlife stuff makes little sense and is too quick to be evokative of much beyond plot contrivance."

Respectfully disagree. The resolution is what made the film for me. The decision the couple makes has real consequences unlike the decisions we all make everyday.

It's a dire ending to be sure, but it pulls everything together nicely. Also, calling the portal stuff at the end "the afterlife" is not giving it enough consideration. It's the end of 2001, not some pedestrian notion of heaven he's shown.

Plot contrivances? Sure there are a few, but not more than most films. D9's magic black liquid is one giant plot contrivance but nobody cared there.

Respect your opinions though boys. I'll def be tuning into the podcast to hear your thoughts in detail. I mean, I knew this was going to be a controversial endorsement ;)

Cool! Now I have BIRTH to look forward to as well. Anything that has the tag 'the next kubrick' gets my attention.

gaspar noe's soudain le vide sure is the best film of the year. i ve seen extracts of this. its appauling. i loved donnie darko. saw glimpses of hope in southland tales but this is a complete and utter failure!

Some movie are entertaining but empty. Some are full of ideas and boring. The Box is in the middle. I liked it.

I agree with Enter The Void endorsement too, it's thus far easily my favourite film of the year. A theatrical experience is a must, and it is the closest film I've seen to 2001: A Space Odyssey in some time.

I had many problems with DS9's plot contrivances as well. Not that I'm a person hung up on plot, but when a film drops most of its ideas be an action flick, it often loses me. I liked DS9 more than The Box, but that film is not without some serious 'flaws' as well.

I wish THE BOX did more with the Arthur C. Clark quotation and pushed the envelope a little further than simply a 'step into one of these three boxes, two will kill you, one will not. You don't have a choice in the matter' It was more WTF than profound. More than a little clumsey in my opinion!

Well I haven't seen "Enter the Void" yet or "The Road," two films that could definitely end up getting my vote too if what I'm hearing is true.

Also, Joko Anwar's "Forbidden Door" is a serious contender. http://tinyurl.com/yjan9a4

Regardless of our various opinions of some of these great films, I'd say 2009 was an amazing year for genre cinema. At least filmmakers tried to achieve something we haven't seen in a long time... originality.

Simply put, the worst widely-released film of the year, and an insult to Matheson's elegantly simple and very human tale.

'Kubrick' my arse.

just put all your efforts and money into seeing enter the void. in cinema that is. it will make your year. i promise. this... cmon. I SO WANTED TO LIKE IT. but no way. cant everyone just realise richard kelly isnt as good as we all hoped after seeing donnie darko??

You are right about The Box, it's very trippy. Kind of a Proyas and Lynch vibe.

But, I can see where it's just too heavy for most audiences

http://uk.movies.yahoo.com/blog/article/8427/the-boxthe-worst-film-in-recent-years.html

i obv dont give a crap about yahoo ratings or reviews nor do i remotely agree with the article...but it is funny. however donnie darko screwed up in the same way in cinemas so maybe this is a good sign after all?

In my books - agentorance nailed everything I like about this film and even touched on some of the other issues (the gender issue is one that I can't seem to shake) that THE BOX brings up. Easily one of my faves of 2009.

fear and stress like an elephant style .... If you want to watch lost no time

Sucked! Big time! Pretentious mess, pretentious director with nothing to say or offer. Have you noticed that he did not merely make people dislike his movie, he pissed people off. Just read what "movie oracle" said, very rarely movie gets F. People are pissed, me included!

It left me feeling empty and I really didn't care for it either. I did enjoy Donnie Darko and saw where he was going but it just didn't have the wit that Donnie did. I'll have to view it again for the helluva it.

I'd recommend this movie to anyone in search of a cure for insomnia. As for entertainment, sorry it was god awful. I hope richard Kelly and agentorange are shot, and soon, so the former can't make another movie like this and the latter can't write a similar review promoting it to the innocent public.