A box full of suspense

Norma (Cameron Diaz) and Arthur (James Marsden) Lewis are not faring well in 1976’s troubled economy, but a shadowy stranger with a missing face (Frank Langella) has a nice deal for them: Press a button on a box, kill a stranger and get 1 million dollars.

Although at just under two hours it doesn’t break any records for length, “The Box” all at once felt too long and too short for the story contained within it.

The first half is well crafted, unfolding slowly with a smattering of suspenseful moments built on mountains of back story.

The second half is where the movie fails slightly – the story gets convoluted, the pace is breakneck and the secret of the box’s working mechanism is too simple for a movie whose plot addicts the audience with complexity.

Besides being a rollicking mystery, the movie has a heavy creep factor. Cult-like scenes involving a seedy motel, a dusty public library and an army of slack-mouthed drones make “The Box” a film that should have opened last weekend, before Halloween.