This cube doesn't have all three dimensions.

Rating: 4/10 (24 February 2005)

If you like psychological thrillers, you should see this movie. It's quite enjoyable and even - dare I say - thought provoking. Most importantly, it serves as an interesting experiment in group dynamics. If you're a psychologist or interested in the field, you'll probably want to see this one.
So why only five of ten stars? While worth a viewing, Cube is a heavily, heavily flawed piece of film-making. Visually, Cube is better than average. Sets, lighting, and effects are all impressive when budget is considered. Camera framing/placement/etc is all adequate, although rarely - if ever - artistic. So what's wrong with Cube? Everything else.
The acting is hit or miss, with lots of misses and hits that stay in the infield, there're no 'homers' here. Wayne Robson, David Hewlett and Andrew Miller all get a B- for perfectly serviceable acting (you can suspend disbelief and forget they're actors); the other half of the primary cast is either bad or really bad.
Worse than (and partly to blame for) the acting, is the film's script, which is at one time or another incoherent, clumsy, unintentionally funny, or indicative of the writer's below average talent for math (the film's math major ponders for several seconds over whether an even number is prime or not). I'd give the writer props for an original and unique concept, but it isn't really - it just hasn't been completely saturated with movie iterations like most other ideas. Jim Henson did something similar with The Cube (1969), and I've seen more than one version of the same concept on various Sci-Fi shows made before this film.
Because of its script and acting issues, the story as a whole falls flat on its face. The who, why and what are never really answered, nor could they be intelligently with the mess of information the shoddy script gives you.
Ultimately, Cube is worth watching because of the social and philosophical issues it raises, but leaves it up to you to deal with those questions intelligently - because this movie doesn't.