Overview: Push a red button on a little black box, get a million bucks cash. Just like that, all of Norma (Diaz) and Arthur Lewis's (Marsden) financial problems will be over. But there's a catch, according to the strange visitor (Lagella) who placed the box on the couple’s doorstep. Someone, somewhere – someone they don't know – will die. Cameron Diaz and James Marsden play a couple confronted by agonizing temptation yet unaware they're already part of an orchestrated an – for them and us – mind-blowing chain of events

DVD Verdict: "The Box," is a highly stylized, good-looking thriller, from the retro 1976 Virginia era. Written and directed by Richard Kelly, director of "Donnie Darko" and "Southland Tales," it is based on a short story called "Button, Button" by Richard Matheson which also inspired an episode of the Twilight Zone. This movie stars Cameron Diaz and James Marsden as a couple chosen for a social experiment - whether if given the opportunity to be given a million dollars they will push a button on this box, knowing that the action will result in the death of someone else.

Normally I would be really into a psychological thriller like this, especially from the same guy as "Donnie Darko". The premise is intriguing and could really get a lot of discussion going on who is conducting the experiment and why, but I felt this movie actually gave too many answers away. It was derailed and fell into a realm of weirdness that was very disappointing to watch.

Cameron Diaz as a young mother/teacher with a deformed foot was sometimes heartbreaking to watch as she struggled day to day and at other times surprisingly monotone as she delivered her lines. Granted some were very simple lines and could have been jazzed up a bit but you would think someone with her experience could play a little more with subtext in that situation. James Marsden was endearing for his obvious love of his wife but it seemed like he was very slow to react in bizarre situations.

Frank Langella played the mysterious Mr. Steward (haha, get it?) who delivers the box to the couple and answers some of their questions and leaves others a mystery. He has a deformity of the face from being struck by lightning. I think his acting was creepy, mysterious, properly monotone and always acting like a gentleman even when presenting a macabre choice. However, too much was given away about his origins and who he was.

This story clearly works better in the short version. By stretching it out, they invented many additional angles with NSA, Langley, NASA, family, school, and neighborhoods and it was a lot to juggle. The bigger the conspiracy got, the smaller it got too with the possibilities of what it could mean. There was a lot of waiting for things to happen and too much drawing out of scenes meant for suspense but not achieving it entirely. A few good moments does not a screen gem make! An hour or less would have done this one just fine. If I didn't already like this genre of film, I would have thought less of it so the average person probably wouldn't like it much. [HF] This is a Widescreen presentation (1.78:1) enhanced for 16x9 TVs and comes with the Special Features of:

"Grounded in Reality" Featurette