Buried

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Buried

September 29th 2010 22:55

The premise is very basic, the unfolding rather tangled. Buried (2010) is a Spanish production starring Ryan Reynolds (and assorted other actors’ voices) and set within the confines of a rudimentary, but rather spacious coffin (wooden box to be exact) over the course of roughly 90 minutes. Written by newcomer Chris Sparling and directed by newbie Rodrigo Cortés, both with an indie feature each under their belts. On the surface Buried’s garnered a huge amount of critical acclaim, but the deeper, blunter reality is that Buried is a bit of a charlatan; it appears to be far more impressive than it actually is.

Paul Conroy (Ryan Reynolds) is an American truck driver on contract work in war-torn Iraq. He awakens, bloodied, with a nasty headache, having been brutally ambushed by what he thinks were either insurgents or terrorists. All his colleagues are dead. For some apparent reason his life was spared. Now he finds himself inside a wooden box, no doubt under several feet of Middle Eastern sand. His attackers/abductors were kind enough to leave him a Zippo lighter, a pencil, a flask of spirits, and, most importantly, a mobile phone (a Blackberry to be precise). So now it’s up to Paul and his ingenuity to try and save his life before all the oxygen is consumed. Game on Paul!

Ryan Reynolds as Paul Conroy

This is far from being an original scenario, but let’s face it; it’s an arresting one, and more than just a little nightmarish. But pretty soon Buried sinks under the weight of its own ludicrous conceit. It is outrageously contrived, with more narrative conveniences than you can shake a turban at. Still, Buried manages to beguile the viewer along its narrative arc, if only because the audience will be so desperate to find out if poor Paul Conroy manages to orchestrate his own rescue, or perhaps find another way out of his infernal subterranean prison cell.

Your time starts ... now!

I have several issues with young Chris Sparling, because it’s his screenplay that is riddled with absurdities. Rodrigo Cortés’s direction is the real reason why this claustrophobic movie manages to sustain interest for its entire running time (perhaps his next movie will be better). The coffin set and Ryan’s confinement and movement within the space is filmed with all types of lenses from all manner of angles, even “breaking” the ceiling of the box to allow an eye of God perspective (man, the 17-day shoot must have been hell for Reynolds). Edward Grau’s cinematography is rich and vivid (the blue light of the phone, the yellow light of the flame, the red gel of a torch), and the editing, by director Cortés, is impressive, considering the visual and rhythmic limitations.

Paul gets on the blower quick smart

But let’s be real for a moment; pretty much anyone awakening to find themselves trapped in a coffin with no one responding to their screams of help would immediately begin to panic and hyperventilate, thus chewing up valuable oxygen. Paul Conroy manages to stay relatively calm for the duration, apart from the odd profane turn following a dead-end or cut-short phone conversation. Paul stupidly keeps his Zippo lit for unnecessary lengths of time. Now that sizeable flame would be sucking up air like a hoover! Simple fact is there’s no way Conroy would last as long as he did without suffering the effects of asphyxiation, thus causing him to black out and soon after expiring altogether.

Paul decides to use another lifeline and phones a friend ...

Next is the super-mobile phone. Damn, Blackberry receives sensational coverage (pun intended) out of this movie! Not only is Paul Conroy in the isolated expanse of the Iraqi desert, but he’s also underground, and I mean, under the ground. But no, his particular brand of cell phone has extraordinary coverage, enabling him to call several numbers back home in America - including the FBI – once he remembers them, since his phone is formatted to Arabic, and his phone has incredibly quick response time when dialing, plus excellent reception. Hell, the phone even films video and sends multimedia within seconds. Now this is a seriously cool device!

The sands of time are closing in!

Am I being too cynical, too critical? I don’t think so. This is a movie where the entire conceit rests on a series of conveniences and contrivances; otherwise, portrayed in the starkest of realities we have a whimpering man in a box in the dark for half and hour tops. And a commercial box office hit, that is not. Instead we have an average Joe (performed adequately by a so-so actor) with a variety of tools at his disposal, a miraculous amount of oxygen, and just enough collected calm to make those all- important calls to sort the damn situation out, even if it means facing a few hard truths.

Talk about a closed set!

But I have to be honest; major gripes aside, Buried might be a tight reality squeeze, but its surprisingly compelling, even if it is ninety far-fetched minutes of a sweaty, blood-encrusted young man within the splintery confines of a dimly-lit, horizontal “booth” making phone call after phone call after phone call, occasionally stopping to ponder about the futility of it all. Talk about a rock and a hard place!

Graphic designers take Hitchcock's Vertigo as inspiration

Here’s the teaser trailer:

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Posted By: Bryn - Category: movie reviews

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Comments

8 Comments. [ Add A Comment ]

Comment by JohnDoe

September 29th 2010 23:04

Film & TV on DVD

Put another nail in that coffin Bryn

(Couldn't help myself)

I have been curious about this since such a simple seeming idea garnered so much critical accolade.

Ryan Reynolds is one of those actors I see potential never used. Maybe here in the face of panic I will see some honesty to his gusto style.

I will probably see this on DVD, not quite big screen worthy in my eyes. I want to see more than just a man trapped in a box, then again The Cube was a big screen treat.

Comment by Matt Shea

September 29th 2010 23:18

In a sense this could be left for DVD, JD, but you'd probably lose a lot of the claustrophobia, which is intense during the first few scenes.

I think you covered this pretty well, Bryn: the filmmakers were always going to be asking us to leap over a few conceptual hurdles and some of them are a bit hard to negotiate. The phone didn't bother me so much but the lighter certainly did.

In the week since I saw the film I've probably cooled on it a bit more. The big problem is trying to keep the protag from becoming passive, which he drifts dangerously towards in some parts. The pat comments about the war in Iraq bothered me also, and the final twist comes across as just a touch film school.

Still, like you I was involved until the very end. Great write-up, as always.

Comment by Bryn

September 30th 2010 00:00

Horrorphile

JD, I preferred Ryan in ... ahem ... The Proposition. Which I saw on a plane trip.

Matt, cheers. Yeah, I agree, with each passing day I feel less impressed with its surface appeal, so to speak, and more irritated by how impressed other critics and audiences have been/will be.

I had to sign an embargo that I wouldn't discuss the ending in a review or anywhere online.

Comment by ShaunK

September 30th 2010 01:32

Screen Adventure

Hey man - fun review that made me laugh - would there be any signal while buried underground - apparently the U.S. has better reception than in Australia......

Comment by Bryn

September 30th 2010 02:24

Horrorphile

Well, I suppose one must take a large grain of salt with this movie then. Perhaps the screenwriter did do his research, well some of it, and found out that American reception with certain providers would enable phone conversations from inside a box six feet under. It's still ludicrous really. The ending lifts the movie's game, but I can't divulge it as I signed a confidentiality agreement.

Comment by David O'Connell

September 30th 2010 05:03

20/20 Filmsight
Screen Fanatic

Just skimmed your review for now mate, meant to see it this morning - print hadn't arrived in time! Must have sent it down by horse and coach. There's another tonight, supposed to go ahead, but I can't make it so next week it is! After Dinner for Schmuck-Ups and the putrid, steaming crock of shit that was Eat Pray Love last night this hasn't been such a crash hot week.

On a brighter note however I finally caught up with Drag Me to Hell - and loved it as much as you guys!