Ryan Reynolds Piles on Suspense in Buried

We all have our fears. Heights. Spiders. Clowns. Zombies. But few of us can ever imaging finding ourselves in Paul Conroy’s situation. Paul (Ryan Reynolds) is a truck driver contracted in Iraq. His convoy was attacked. When he awoke he found himself lying down in the dark. He finds a lighter and discovers he’s trapped in a coffin buried underground.

He doesn’t know where he is or how deep he’s buried. He finds with him a cell phone, a lighter, a flask, a pocket knife, a flashlight, and a couple glow sticks.

Paul uses the cell phone to call for help. Nobody answers and those that do either aren’t helpful or fail to listen. Paul becomes very afraid and frustrated. Can he get out on his own? If not, can anybody help him? And will the one responsible for his situation go after his family if a ransom isn’t paid that night?

Buried is an incredibly taut thriller directed by Rodrigo Cortés (The Contestant) with a simple pitch: one man in a box – nothing else – for ninety minutes. The trick is to make such restrictions interesting. Danny Boyle met a similar challenge, though to a lesser extent, in 127 Hours with creative camera work and flashbacks. However, in that movie the audience is visually removed on occasion from its static environment.

No so in Buried.

After an excellent opening credit sequence that recalls Hitchcock’s thrillers we experience darkness – and then stay in the coffin the entire time. No opening sequence. No cut-aways to memories of the past. Just Ryan Reynolds in a box with lighter and cell phone in hand.

It couldn’t have been executed any better.

Every trick and angle possible is used to prevent tedium, including a couple how’d-they-do-that shots. It also helps that Ryan Reynolds, playing a man with anxiety issues, who has to race against time in a life-threatening situation that includes irritating phone conversations and a demanding terrorist, gives a gripping performance. The burden is entirely on his shoulders and he proves himself capable. I kept looking for a lapse in logic or a false note in his response to his so-called “helpers.” Not a single one was found. Reynolds has left Van Wilder and Hannibal King in the dust and is ready to become an A-list star (he dons the emerald mask and ring in Green Lantern this summer).

Buried was released in select theaters last fall with plans to open wide later on. Poor attendance left the rest of the country in the cold. That’s too bad, because this is a film that will keep audiences riveted until the very last second. It also proves that Ryan Reynolds is more than good looks and a likeable personality; he can carry a film by himself. It would be unfortunate if the couch potatoes also ignored what is his best film to date and 2010’s most exciting thriller.


8/10


Should you see it? Rent


Buried is now available on Blu-ray and DVD.