The Box Collector (2008) - 3/4

The Box Collector tells an eccentric, melodramatic story about small town people. I think this is supposed to mount up to some statement about jealousy. The basic plot concerns the very sheltered but handsome young Harry (Noah Segen), who likes to paint pictures of boxes. He is falling in love with a sexually provocative and exotic new neighbour, Marie (Lyne Renee). Working against this love is all the men in town who also seem to be falling for Marie and, most importantly, Harry's eccentric and potentially-dangerous mother Beth (Margot Kidder). As the story plays out in this peculiar small town, though, it goes far beyond a statement about jealousy. It becomes a grand expression of a perverse worldview I find deeply fascinating.

It only takes five minutes for this worldview to begin to show itself. As Harry enters the pharmacy to collect medication for himself and his mother, he's immediately set upon by the slutty cashier. She leans forward to flash as much of her ample cleavage as possible, asks Harry why he doesn't come around more often, and drops several subtlety-free clues that she wants him. On his way out of the pharmacy, Harry's friend Burt invites him for a drink at the bar, where it's made clear the slutty, sexy female bartender is into the virginal Harry. When Harry gets home, the beautiful and provocatively-dressed Marie, possibly a slut, is moving in next door and immediately takes a shine to Harry, making a show of her assets.

You may be wondering why I keep using the word 'slutty.' Surely I'm being a chauvinist scumbag? No, I'm just interpreting what is given on-screen. Burt makes clear the bartender will put out for anyone who pays. Similarly, the pharmacy cashier later wastes no time going for a ride with Burt. Even Marie is a 'massage therapist' by night, working in her own home. She's also perpetually flirting with all the town's men.

To be frank, the worldview being put forward here is that all attractive, young women are sluts. It gets better, though. You can't have sluts without slut-hungry men. And sure enough, all men who aren't Harry fall into the category. They are mostly represented in the character of Burt, however. Men are looked upon as incapable of fidelity; and due to the overwhelming number of sexy sluts in town, it's easy for them to cheat. Burt's wife Luz is both menacing and comic relief as his fiercely shrewish shadow, following his every move, just knowing he's adulterous. Beth, it turns out, is Luz's best friend. They spend all day reading tarot cards and bitching about how men can't keep 'it' in their pants. Beth herself was the victim of infidelity and despises all men who aren't her son.

The plot thickens further. Marie is on the run from her ex-husband with her daughter. She keeps complaining about how jealous he was because she was constantly giving massages to other men and flirting. She makes clear jealousy is something she can't stand. Of course, there's a difference between jealousy and not wanting to be humiliated. In this perverse world the filmmaker has set up, one can hardly blame her ex-husband for having been worried. But I digress.

The point of fact is that this bizarre worldview is very fascinating. It basically compartmentalizes all men into two categories: virginal mama's boys and horndogs. And it compartmentalizes all women into two categories: man-hating harpies and shameless, sexy sluts. It's not entirely clear which side the film stands on. It seems to regard with amused condemnation all of these categories. Marie and Harry alone offer some possibility for being a normal, happy, faithful couple in this twisted universe.

The worldview here is the polar opposite of what one finds in Russ Meyer's films. The ultimate expression of Russ Meyer's philosophy, Ultravixens, boils down to one oft-repeated line from the film, "Always look a good fuck in the face." The Box Collector is not appreciative of that philosophy.

So much for worldview. There are other things to enjoy in the film. The grotesque characters who embody the odd worldview are certainly fascinating and amusing to spend time with. They feel like real people. I grew up with people like this. However odd or caricatured they may seem to some, they're real. The most potent of the characters is Beth. Not only is she a complex woman with strong and frightening feelings, but Margot Kidder gives a totally uninhibited performance as this grotesque character. It is truly incredible. One would expect Kidder to be interested in preserving some glimmer of her sexpot image. She let's it all go. She wears huge glasses, hair so dry it might as well be seaweed, frumpy fortune teller clothes, and hobbles with a cane. Close-ups emphasize the wrinkles around her mouth as she delivers frightfully-impassioned lines or cold lines hiding the fire within. Apart from Beth, Luz (Adriana O'Neil) is a scene-stealer as the bitter, jealous harpy. The past-their-prime ladies definitely take control of this movie and show the men and sexy young women a thing or two.

As I mentioned, there is a problematic final three minutes. It calls into question most of the rest of the movie. There is something to figure out there, but I'm not convinced it's worth puzzling out. There is scarcely enough information given and even once one does puzzle it out, it won't reveal anything more about what the film has to impart: the strange worldview remains pretty much what it is. All it might do is serve to distance the worldview from the filmmaker, well-known British producer John Daly, who the end credits tell us wrote and directed the film. Daly passed away in 2008, before The Box Collector had a chance to get out. I wonder if the ending was his decision? At any rate, the film remains an emotionally powerful, fascinating picture that will offer plenty of entertainment for lovers of peculiar characters.