7. The Box
Poor Richard Kelly. Ever since his masterful debut in Donnie Darko, the mans been struggling to live up to his early benchmark. Darko was the very definition of a cult classic pulsating, macabre, weird but enthralling. His follow-up Southland Tales was booed out of Cannes and his next effort The Box didn't shake any trees either. If you watch the trailer for The Box, its very easy to get on board with the premise. To give you the simple version, Richard Nixon turns up at your house and offers you a gigantic sack of cash if you push a button hes carrying. The catch is that if you press that button, someone you do not know and will never meet will die. Its an interesting philosophical quandary, itself based on a good short story and former Twilight Zone episode. But when we talk Richard Kelly, the simple version can never really apply. What could have been a perfectly acceptable taut, tense film collapses under the weight of Kellys freshman philosophy ideas. Its a shame really, because if he hadnt let him ambition get the better of him he might have had something excellent on his hands. Granted, there isnt much to work with (this was a short story) but what there is could have been buffed up to a mirror shine. Instead, were weighed under with trippy visuals and clunky mythology.