Synopsys
What if someone gave you a box containing a button that, if pushed, would bring you a million dollars...but simultaneously take the life of someone you don't know? Would you do it? And what would be the consequences? The year is 1976. Norma Lewis (Cameron Diaz) is a teacher at a private high school and her husband, Arthur (James Marsden), is an engineer working at NASA. They are, by all accounts, an average couple living a normal life in the suburbs with their young son...until a mysterious man with a horribly disfigured face (Frank Langella) appears on their doorstep and presents Norma with a life-altering proposition: the box. With only 24 hours to make their choice, Norma and Arthur face an impossible moral dilemma. What they don't realize is that no matter what they decide, terrifying consequences will have already been set in motion. They soon discover that the ramifications of this decision are beyond their control and extend far beyond their own fortune and fate. Written and directed by Richard Kelly (Donnie Darko).
(Synopsys from Landmark Theaters.

Our Thoughts

We learn and grow through experiences. A movie allows us to learn through somebody else's experience, without having to go through it ourselves. This movie is a great lesson, presented in a highly entertaining and captivating way - and, boy, am I glad I don't have to learn this lesson through a situation in my own life!

There is a change happening in this world right now - or at least, it needs to happen, in order for us humans to make the next step. This movie points at the most visible symptom of the problem we have to overcome next. (Described in other articles on this website in more detail...)

The first and main dilemma depicted, really, might not be a dilemma at all - depending on your attitude towards this world. As a child we start out considering ourselves as the center of the universe. Later, we widen the center to include our family, later our friends, then maybe our community, our country, and eventually even more advanced people include all of humanity. With the first few stages of this self-centered world-view, there is no dilemma at all. The priorities provide a clear answer -a s seen in the movie. For the later stages it becomes a trade-off between priorities - and most often my own self is more important than the rest.

Turning the attitude around, though, it clearly is no dilemma and the answer is very straight forward: Once I understand and accept that "it is not about us" but "we are about it", and that each one of us is here to fulfill a mission and is provided with everything that is necessary to fulfill it, well, then I can not help but make the opposite choice... The book "You are the Change" quite nicely discusses this new attitude.

Hm. The second dilemma, well, that's a whole other story! A difficult lesson, indeed. How would you choose? And why so? (The why is the real question!)

All in all, I experienced this movie as highly entertaining, suspenseful, not predictable, and very thought provoking!


Links
Landmark Theaters:
http://www.landmarktheaters.com/Films/films_frameset.asp?id=69338
Official Website:
http://thebox-movie.warnerbros.com/