Wordiezett
So much average
Chirphymium
It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional
Nayan Gough
A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.
storyguide-axel
The movie begins. A mouse is trapped. It is trapped in a maze. A maze controlled by someone, to guide the mouse. The maze seem endless. Such is the beginning of the Kovak Box, but it is also the entire movie played out in a single opening sequence.Is there a need then, to continue watching the movie? Yes, of course. The movie is anything but predictable. Even though you know you are entering a maze, you have no idea what it looks like, or what turns you must take a long the way, and make no mistake, you, the watcher, are as much trapped within this movie as David Norton, the writer.I would like to tell a bit about the plot, but beware of the words, they must be vague.The writer, David Norton (Timothy Hutton), is going to Mallorca, with his girlfriend Jane. He is attending a conference in his honor. He is a science fiction writer, but is currently looking for that next masterpiece that will make the world remember him forever. On the plane there, he deletes an idea that might have been something from a David Cronenberg film. And yes, I would have watched that movie as well, gladly. But this story is not the one that David is looking for. There is another couple on the plane, but the movie makes no attempt to hide the fact that we should only be interested in the woman. At this point, there is no connection between the two, but that is about to change.On the island strange things start to happen. A Russian hit-man. The arrival of a mysterious DVD with a monkey that kills itself. Strange phone calls and music. Suicides. It is all connected, of course, but only revealed by the end.This started with the feeling of a Cronenberg film (I wonder if its a coincidence that the main character was named David?), but turned into a Fincher film (another David...), and for a second reminded me a bit about The Game. When that is said, while Timothy Hutton does a nice job at playing the role of the writer, the characters surrounding him are not the likes of which Cronenberg, Fincher or even Lynch (a third David...) would have used.I like the overall premise of the film, but by the end, too much is explained. The three Davids would never have explained this much, they would have challenged the watcher to find the answers for himself. This is the biggest problem of the movie. Was it worth watching? Yes, of course. Could it have been better? Yes, surely, but I would have no trouble going back and seeing it a second time.
tedg
There is a standard form for a movie like this. Its so heavily imprinted that when you encounter a deviation, it shocks. We have a writer who wrote a book that comes alive. We expect that the relationship between book (the film within) and reality will be adjudicated on the viewer's side. Here it is all within the story. Instead of an overlap we weave with our genius, this movie presents us with an on screen evil genius who makes things overlap.He literally read the book and then followed the story within.All in all, this is a pretty unsuccessful movie, in several ways. But it still grabs us because of this strange twist on the twist mechanism.I still don't understand the title, a rare thing for me.Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.
gradyharp
THE KOVAK BOX is a successful little suspense/psychological thriller from the Spanish writers Daniel Monzón (who also directs) and Jorge Guerricaechevarría. The story may be a bit far fetched, but then what horror story isn't? The premise for the tale holds up well and is aided by some very fine performances by a mixture of Spanish, English, and American actors. The mood of the film is beautifully set during opening credits by a complex maze in which a white rat sniffs and ambulates from confusing corner to confusing wall - just the manner in which director Monzón plans to tell his story.David Norton (Timothy Hutton) is a celebrated science fiction novelist visiting Majorca for a special conference accompanied by his soon to be fiancée Jane (Georgia Mackenzie). David has been having premonitions on his flight to the conference and those brooding thoughts continue as he registers for the conference and finds little disturbing clues that culminate in Jane's suicide leap from their hotel balcony. Almost simultaneously an attractive Spanish girl Silvia (Lucía Jiménez) in the same hotel 'jumps' from her balcony but is saved from death by falling onto an awning. Jane dies in the hospital: Silvia is in the bed next to Jane, witnesses David's grief, and the beginning of a bond is created.David meets a strange old man Frank Kovak (David Kelly) who seeks an autograph of David's first novel 'Gloomy Sunday' and from there the mystery begins. David becomes the unknowing main character in a sci-fi story that mimics ideas from his own first book, a story about the implantation of devices in humans that would enable a central force to assist the victims in their own destructive ends. The plot is tightly woven from this point on and to reveal any portion of it would diminish the chair-gripping finale.Timothy Hutton seems an odd choice for the main character of the film until his combination of cool intellect and understated passion clicks in. The film is graced by the presence of the talented Lucía Jiménez who seems to have the potential of becoming another Penelope Cruz! The cinematography by Carles Gusi and musical score by Roque Baños make the setting visually and aurally spectacular. For those who enjoy mind bender thrillers, THE KOVAK BOX will certainly please. Grady Harp
Michael O'Keefe
David Norton(Timothy Hutton)is a best-selling author that of course controls the heroes, villains and subject matter of his 25 novels. Without explanation the real world starts imitating his fictional world...to be exact just like his very first book. While speaking at a conference on a Mediterranean island, he is approached by a strange fan Frank Kovak(David Kelly); and his fiancée receives a mysterious phone call and jumps to her death from their hotel balcony. Soon others around him begin committing suicide. Is this a scientific experiment carried out by the government...similar to circumstances in his first novel? And how does Kovak figure in all this? Suspense with disturbing content. Also in the cast: Lucia Jimenez, Georgia Mackenzie, Gary Piquer and Annette Badland.
