"Cube" was one of those rare lucky finds for me. Searching for something new to watch (long before the days of DVD) at the rental store (yes, kids, your mother and I had to actually drive to a store to pick up our movie rentals!) I picked this one up for no better reason than because I had seen everything else on the rack that was even remotely interesting. Years later when I began considering movies to add to my DVD collection "Cube" was quickly on the list.

I really enjoyed "12 Angry Men" and others like it so I guess there’s something about well-done closed-room stories that appeals to me. "Cube" has a tiny cast and essentially takes place in a single room, yet it never feels lacking.

A handful of people find themselves in a strange structure. It’s a giant cube comprised of numerous small cube rooms identical except for the color of the walls. 6 doors in each room lead to other rooms, but there seems to be no escape from the endless maze. If being trapped here for no discernible reason isn’t bad enough some of the rooms contain lethal traps. Being caught in one is almost certainly instant death.

Different people bring different talents to the table: there’s a mathematician, a cop, and an escape artist, but some of their contributions aren’t immediately apparent like the ability to deal effectively with an autistic person. Their combination of abilities is their one hope for survival.

As escape eludes them and traps cut down their already low numbers, tension runs high. If the traps don’t kill them they may kill each other before they can escape. It's hard to like someone willing to throw you around when they don't get their way.

Part of the fun of the movie is that much of it is left unexplained. The speculation helps spur the imagination into considering what the greater purpose may be here. It invites contemplation on what the cube may represent and implicate. Or maybe it doesn’t represent anything. I'll let you decide for yourself.

Despite the lack of complete explanation I never felt left hanging. This doesn't appear to be universal, though. Some people prefer more detail in their backstories. I agree that this approach doesn't work well for every movie, but the ambiguity in "Cube" is balanced well enough that it's left open without being annoyingly confusing. Not everyone feels this way, but I think it works for me because the stories of the characters are wrapped up in a satisfying way. Many viewers want the story of the cube itself wrapped as well. The why and how of it is so important that some can't get past the lack of any solid explanation for it.

I feel like we as a general audience tend to want too much laid out for us in our contemporary movies. There's no room for mystery or viewers' imaginations. I miss that sometimes. As a result the end of "Cube" can leave some unsatisfied.

While the premise of being trapped in a murderous puzzle is a good one it can only do so much if it has boring characters. Fortunately "Cube" has a variety of personalities which compliment and clash creating great drama with ups as well as downs, hope as well as despair. Personalities change as the situation does so the person you may think you know at the beginning may not be the same once the pressure starts steaming their personalities like vegetables on the stove.

Nicole DeBoer was the only name I even faintly recognized from the movie initially. Even in all the years since I first saw the film I can’t recall any of the other cast and crew being involved with anything else I've seen except for one: David Hewlett who has gone on to make a name for himself in the Stargate universe. It’s kind of surprising because they all do such nice jobs with their roles. They carry the tension and conflict wonderfully which is important because that’s about all there is to move the story forward. I suppose you could make a case that some of them overact, but that can also be attributed to the extreme stress of the situation.

There’s little in the way of special effects, not very much action, nothing that offers forgiveness for a poor performance. Acting is important for any good movie, but it’s especially so in one that has nothing else to fall back on. This movie is made up of dialogue and interaction, if that doesn't carry across properly no one would stay interested long enough to see the suspenseful scenes and fancy traps.

I think they do a particularly good job with the autistic character - both writing him into the scenes and portraying him. He's not treated with kid gloves because he's different, he poses problems for the group that other people wouldn't, but neither is he there for the sole purpose of being a problem nor as an easy target for ridicule. As someone who is mildy autistic myself (Asperger's to be exact) I appreciate the way he is handled.

The music is my one complaint. It's so bad it makes me grit my teeth at times. That's largely personal preference because I hate the sound of whispering which features a lot in at least one of the songs that plays. While I can't think of any other songs that get on my nerves like that one, none of it impresses me.

"Cube" is not a movie for everyone. There’s not a lot of eye candy, heroics, or things that make a blockbuster movie. However, if you like suspense built off character interaction with a little conspiracy theory thrown in you should check this one out.