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Review

On the heels of DiCillo's uproarious comedy Living in Oblivion, this bizarre existential amusement is a disappointment. Turturro stars as Al Fountain, an anal retentive electrical engineer who's overseeing the installation of a generating turbine in a small Appalachian hamlet. Al begins to see odd hallucinations (coffee pouring out of a cup backwards, etc.), and when the plug gets pulled on his project, he decides to go on a capricious search for a lake resort of childhood memory. His quest ultimately lands him in the lap of a twisted Peter Pan—like oddball (Rockwell) who refers to himself only as Kid. It's all too obvious that this imp is going to be Al's spiritual mentor and that's precisely what makes Box of Moonlight dissatisfying, it's all too obvious. Turturro gives an uncharacteristically wooden performance that is thankfully offset by Rockwell's spirited turn. The film has its revelatory moments and even a few goodhearted thrills, but at the end of the day it's just all too trite, retreaded and predictable.