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American driver Paul Conroy (Ryan Reynolds) tries to dig himself out of a bad situation in the claustrophobic drama “Buried.” |
“Buried” takes place inside a coffin.
No cutaways.
No flashbacks.
For 95 minutes.
Just an American truck driver buried in a coffin somewhere in Iraq. The only things in there with him are a crummy flashlight, an Iraqi cell phone and, for a while, a snake.
If you’re already turned off by this description of “Buried,” keep an open mind and understand that his movie, ingeniously directed by Spanish filmmaker Rodrigo Cortes, is the kind of daring, tight and riveting work of cinema that the late Alfred Hitchcock would have embraced.
In fact, Cortes cites Hitchcock’s works as inspiration for “Buried.” The master’s 1944 “Lifeboat” – shot in the confines of a small life boat – and his 1948 “Rope” – shot with one seemingly seamless, uninterrupted 80-minute take – served as a springboard for Cortes’ approach to making “Buried.”
Ryan Reynolds, who’s mostly known for working the realm of romantic comedies, quantum leaps into serious dramatic art as Paul Conroy, a driver ambushed by presumed insurgents and buried in a coffin until someone pays a ransom for his life.
“Buried” begins in total darkness as Conroy wakes up without first knowing where he is.
In this box, we see only what Conroy sees. Nothing more. And he can only see when his failing flashlight works, or when he opens a greenlighted cell phone, apparently left for him to contact people with ransom money.
Could any movie setup sound more visually boring than this? (Read more…)