BURIED
Sub-Genre- Buried Alive
Cast Members of Note- Ryan Reynolds is the only person in the film, though Samantha Mathis and a few others do lend voice support.
What's it About?- All there is to say about the plot of this movie is that Ryan Reynold sis a truck driver in Iraq, and he wakes up to find himself buried in a coffin-like box somewhere, that he assumes is the desert. Alone in the box with only a lighter and cell phone, the entire movie is spent with him making calls to various people to somehow get himself some help.
As the movie progresses, and the plot unravels, it looks increasingly like he's screwed.
To say anymore would be giving too much away, and with such a limited array of things a tightly plotted film like this has to work with, it's best to leave the details to your eyes for watching.
The Good- "A guy trapped in a box for 90 minutes" sounds like a tough sell for a movie these days, but then again so did "A girl and her autistic brother trapped in a house during a hurricane with a hungry tiger." I'm happy to say that as with Burning Bright, Buried worked extremely well in its limited confines.
This one man-in-a-box show had me tensed up and anxious without ever realizing that I was. At first I thought it to be decent and clever, but as the movie wore on it gripped me hard, as I caught myself about 30 minutes in tensed like I was ready to jump out of my seat and throw a karate kick into the air. You might not believe that such a simple premise can be so effective, but trust me, it is.
Ryan Reynolds does a great job with limited movement or other characters to interact with. It didn't take long for me to forget he was the funny actor, and believe that he was a hopelessly trapped regular guy, desperate to find someone to come help him. This is how you do suspense.
The Bad- The end. I will say no more.
The Downright Horrendous- **SPOILER ALERT** (Skip this part if you don't want a pretty big plot point ruined for you...) I know this movie made some statements about a few different issues, but the biggest of them all was the way that big business throws the little man to the wolves. So a truck driver is ambushed, kidnapped, buried alive and held for "ransom" somewhere in Iraq, and the head of personnel for his company fires him while buried alive, to avoid culpability and paying out any type of damages or insurance to his family? Infuriating. There was no "We will get you out of this" or "We will take care of your family, don't worry", only "we're going to make up an excuse to fire you, because we can't be libel for this shit." Wow. A strong message, and sadly, a very true one.
The Gory- Ryan Reynolds cuts off a digit, but that's about it.
The Naked- Nay.
Best Line- "Okay, fuck you."
What did we learn?- Don't drive trucks in Iraq. Also, your boss most likely hates you.
The Master Says- A If you want to tense up for about 90 minutes and feel true, hopeless despair, then Buried is the movie for you. I have to say that if you're claustrophobic, even mildly, this movie will probably send you into a panic attack; I'm not so bad with tight spaces, and I found myself a ball of nerves for nearly the entire running time. Ryan Reynolds in a box for 90 minutes seems like a lame concept, but he and the filmmakers deliver the goods. See this one asap. If you're so inclined that is.Final Thoughts- How did that dog get in the coffin!?!
