☺ The Box ☺

I recently watched a film on DVD entitled "The Box". I guess many of you have seen it already. It was release in the USA last November and it stars Cameron Diaz (Norma Lewis), James Marsden (Arthur Lewis) and Frank Langella (Arlington Steward).

The movie is about a suburban couple with a child who wakes up one morning to discover a small package at their doorstep. They open the package to find a small, wooden box with a button on top and there was a note saying someone would call on them that same evening to discuss what the box was about.

When Arlington Steward pays a visit that same evening, he tells Norma that she and her husband can become $1 million richer by simply pressing the button on the box. However, doing so would lead to irrevocable consequences since somewhere in the world, someone they don't know would die. The couple decide to press the button, they get the million bucks and someone dies. But what follows is the couple's constant struggle with their moral dilemma. 

Although the film was part science-fiction, suspense and mystery, I liked it because of the lesson it imparted. The movie itself tests the true nature of a person's humanity. It also tries to impart a strong lesson about greed and materialism. The way I understood the film to be, it was like trying to show all of us the possible consequences, not necessarily of reaching for our dreams, but lacking contentment in life.

Incidentally, the movie was based on Richard Matheson's short story, "Buttons, Buttons" which also was the basis for a Twilight Zone episode in 1985.