In the Greek myth, Zeus gave Pandora a box as a wedding gift but told her not to open it. She did, and released all the evils of the world.
To open the movie “Pandora’s Box” is to discover overacting, gratuitous sex scenes and reprisals of other black films.
The movie begins with a graphic sex scene between Lance (Tyson Beckford) and Tammy (Chrystale Wilson, of “Player’s Club” and “Trois,” another of Hardy and Packer’s films).
Then, all of sudden, Lance is brutally murdered. The police, including an unconvincing Joey Lawrence, show up a bit too calm and collected to be arriving at the scene of such a grisly murder.
Mia DuBois (Monica Calhoun, who played “Mia” in “The Best Man”), a hard-working psychologist, counsels Tammy and is later called in to feed information to police after they discover Tammy may have plotted Lance’s murder.
The film’s producers, FAMU alumnae Rob Hardy and William Packer, have strung together a choppy slide show of sex, murder and mayhem.
As for the plot, unexpected twists and turns kept “Pandora’s Box” from descending into a carnal abyss.
Tammy and Mia form a relationship, Tammy analyzing Mia better than any licensed psychologist and sex-starved Mia living vicariously through Tammy’s adventurous sex life.
Tammy suggests Mia visit Pandora’s Box, an after-hours den of sin where the only rule is-you guessed it-there are no rules.
There Mia meets Hampton (Michael Jai White), who had been a casual acquaintance.
She starts an affair with Hampton, which had been set up by her work-too-hard, play-too-little husband, Victor (Kristoff St. John). The plot thickens, legs are spread, backs are stabbed and the movie ends.
Curiosity drove Pandora to open the box. Curiosity drove me to see the movie. Curiosity also drove me to wonder why Monica Calhoun had the same name that she did in “The Best Man.”
Why did Chrystale Wilson’s character still have the lesbian tendencies she had in “Player’s Club?”
After Pandora released all the evils of the world, the only thing left was hope.
So now after the release of “Pandora’s Box,” we hope that other filmmakers will keep that box closed (I could’ve waited to open “Pandora’s Box” from a video rental box).
Rahkia Nance can be reached at Petite8228@aol.com.