The Box Shows The Best And Worst Traits of Richard Kelly's Filmmaking

It's been a whole decade since Richard Kelly directed anything. Can you believe it? The director of Donnie Darko has been attached to a number of projects over the years, but he hasn't helmed anything new in a decade. Truth be told, I'd say it's only a matter of time before we see more from Kelly in the future considering his creative spirit and that he doesn't have any scandals tarnishing his reputation. Perhaps that's just the hopeful optimist in me talking though since I tend to find Kelly's trio of movies utterly fascinating. Yes, that even includes his weakest directorial effort, The Box, which offers plenty to dissect even if it doesn't either come together as a cohesive whole or deliver a Southland Tales-esque all-timer head trip of a mess. 

Is Southland Tales A Mess? Wildly Entertaining? Perhaps Both?

MASSIVE SPOILERS FOLLOW

Donnie Darko seemed to signal that newbie director Richard Kelly was someone to watch out for. The film was so unique in its exploration of one troubled High Schooler's life that it not only put its main actor, Jake Gyllenhaal, on everyone's radar as a leading man, but also seemed to be the emergence of a new interesting filmmaking voice in Richard Kelly. In the two decades since Donnie Darko, Kelly has only directed two films and has directed nothing since the November 2009 release of his film The Box. What exactly happened here? Well, part of it may be the divisive reception of his follow-up to Donnie Darko, Southland Tales, a 2007 political satire so weird that it makes Donnie Darko and its giant rabbit look a mundane Max Keeble's Big Move by comparison.