The Box

Like all works dealing with science fistion or the supernatural, once the writers and filmmakers feel they have to explain what is going on there most surely will be a letdown. The few exception to this are THE HAUNTING (1963) and THE INNOCENTS (1961). These are stories that say, "Yes, there are ghosts and thngs that go bump in the night. Live with it." After carefully creating a mesmerizing and dreamy atmoshhere in the first half of the film (excellent cinematography and a highly-effective musical score) we get some kind of explanation that stretches credibility to the max. You can't fault the acting - Cameron Diaz has seldom been better, Marsden surprised me, and Langella is one of those actors who can read the phone book and make it sound like Shakespeare. But what's with the loose end about Marsden wanting to be an astronaut? Why the defective foot? And why was the film set in 1976 when so little attention was paid to period detail? A near-miss that reall yhad me for an hour or so but between the motel and the library and the splashing water I felt so disappointed.