Buried is every person's worst nightmare and forces you to live through every stressful second of it. Paul Conroy (Ryan Reynolds) is a contractor working in Iraq who wakes up to find himself gagged, bound and buried alive in a coffin in the middle of nowhere. He's been kidnapped and his captors want $5m dollars before 9pm or he'll be left to die alone. Fortunately, there are a few things in the coffin with him including a phone, torch, flask and a lighter, all of which help add to the tension and give the film the momentum it needs to carry you through the ninety minute run time.
The film is shot in real time and never cuts away from the coffin, so you're stuck in there with him the whole time. Personally, I didn't mind this at all, as it adds to the anxiety you feel for Reynold's character. By not cutting away to a different scene, you don't have any 'relief' moments, ramping up the levels of tension. The 'panic attack' scenes are intense and there were times when I started shallow breathing, even though I don't suffer from claustrophobia, so the film was clearly affecting me. Either that or I ate my hot dog too quickly...actually that's probably what it was.
I've always liked Ryan Reynolds, but he has tended to play goofy characters (Van Wilding) or starred in rom-coms (The Proposal), so I never thought he'd make a great dramatic actor. However, he gives an incredible performance in this movie (easily his best one to date). Add to this the superb, yet suffocating direction by Rodrigo Cortes and you have a great high quality thriller. Some of the shots he manages to achieve are extraordinary, especially considering the cramped conditions. Of course this concept isn't new, as anyone who's seen Quentin Tarantino's
CSI episode will know, but it does feel fresh and it's a remarkable feat managing to stretch this idea out into a convincing ninety minute feature.
This film isn't perfect by any means, and without getting too picky, there where a few things that annoyed me. Although Ryan Reynolds is the only actor that appears on screen, there are a few voice actors involved as well for the telephone scenes. On the whole they were great, especially Stephen Tobolowsky as
Alan Davenport, but I just wasn't convinced by Robert Paterson's (not the guy from Twilight, that's Pattinson) character, Dan Brenner. I don't want to slate the actor, but it was obvious that he'd simply recorded his dialogue in a studio and they'd just stuck it in the film. The conversation and therefore the connection between himself and Conroy (Reynolds) didn't feel authentic. Maybe I'm over thinking it, but if you go and see the film, you'll hopefully understand what I'm saying.
Another thing that wound me up was the whole 'phone signal underground'. They try and address it with a line of dialogue suggesting that he must only be a few feet underground which is why he can get a signal, but c'mon, seriously? I can't get a phone signal when I'm standing in certain parts of Richmond Park and the last time I checked, Surrey wasn't a war torn part of the world. Finally, how many phones nowadays only have a talktime of ninety minutes? That must have been a really dodgy battery. Anyway, I guess these are just minor complaints and they didn't totally ruin my enjoyment of the film.
If you suffer from claustrophobia, I strongly suggest you don't go and see this movie. If you're going on a first date, don't go and see this movie. If you need a good laugh, don't go and see this movie. If you don't like Ryan Reynolds, don't go and see this movie. However, if you enjoy a genuinely tense, well acted, well directed thriller that will keep you guessing right up to the end, then go and see this movie!
All the way through the film I kept thinking about who I'd call and what I'd do if I was stuck in that situation. Let's just say, I hope it never happens, cause I'd have died well before the phone had a chance to ring!
Michael's Movie Mark 7/10
