Pandora's Box
By Keith Boykin, in movies
Friday, December 13 2002, 6:00AM
Part murder mystery, part suspense thriller, Pandora's Box tells the story of Mia DuBois (Monica Calhoun), an unhappily married psychologist who takes on a new patient, Tammy (Chrystale Wilson), after the patient's husband is brutally murdered.
As a web of deceit unfolds, the murderer, the patient, the therapist and her husband (Kristoff St. John) each get deeply involved in the intrigue, each apparently attempting to play the other. But the film tries to keep us guessing who will get played in the end.
Greek Mythology
In Greek mythology, Pandora's box represented a box that Prometheus had filled with the world's woes. Like the Biblical "Eve" figure, Pandora was the first woman and was given temptation (a box), which she was told to avoid. Once she opened it, the evils of the world fell upon man, thus presenting a conveniently patriarchal excuse to blame women for man's own downfall.
The film plays off this mythological meaning, but Pandora's Box is also used as the name of an underground club where men and women go to live out their uninhibited sexual fantasies. Unfortunately, before we ever see the place, the film shrouds it with an undeserved aura of mystery and intrigue. In the end, it's just a glorified sex party in a nightclub.
The Acting
The acting was the weakest link in this low-budget film. The police officers investigating the initial murder are constructed so cartoonishly that they stuff donuts into their faces and crack jokes while standing over the dead body with the detectives. The other characters play their roles melodramatically, creating an effect that is almost comedic.
Don't get too excited about seeing Tyson Beckford in the film. Beckford's role is so fleeting that if you come in late and walk to the bathroom you could miss him entirely. His primary role seems to be to look good, which he does quite well.
Despite Beckford's prominently featured image on the advertisements for the movie, the real male star of the show is Michael Jai White ("Spawn"), who plays a disturbing but sexually enticing seducer.
The Suspense
The film kept me in suspense largely because I kept waiting for the proverbial "other shoe to drop," but it never did. Sure, the plot unfolded in one or two ways I had not expected, but I felt slightly betrayed by the letdown from the melodramatic hype.
The film's greatest success is in the way the characters attempt to conspire against one another, leaving the viewer to speculate who is doing what to whom. I also appreciate the film makers' willingness to depict unabashed black sexuality so rarely seen despite the proliferation of so many trashy, sexually explicit black movies.
In the end, I liked the movie. It was not at all what I expected, but it managed to entertain me for the duration of the film.
Originally released in 2001, the film is now playing in select theaters in select cities. It is also available for purchase on DVD.
© Copyright 2002 by Keith Boykin.