Hi everyone! So, my name is Katie, and ironically I too work at Blockbuster. Actually, maybe it’s not so ironic. Anyway… For the most part I’ll give every movie out there a chance, but I usually prefer Horror movies. Also, I should probably apologize to everyone in advance: I’m sorry if some of my sarcasm shines through in these reviews, but I will try to keep it under control!
I’m going to try to keep this review short, because this is definetly one of those movies that is fairly easy to spoil…
So, the basic plot of Buried is this: Paul Conroy (Ryan Reynolds) is an American truck driver. During a job in Iraq, Paul and a convoy of other drivers are attacked by a group of Iraqis. Paul is taken hostage and soon wakes up underground, buried in a coffin with nothing but a lighter, a knife, a pencil and a cell phone. As soon as Paul discovers the Blackberry in his coffin, he tries to call the emergency phone number his employer had given to him incase a situation like this should happen. Unfortunately, the number was taken from his wallet by his kidnappers (No surprise). So he attempts to contact his family, his employer, as well as the FBI in hopes that someone will be able to locate and save him in time before his oxygen runs out.
I really enjoyed Buried, actually. The first thing I’d like to say, is that I applaud the director (Rodrigo Cortés) for the camera work in this. You sometimes do forget (well, I did) that you’re supposed to be stuck inside of a coffin-sized box for an hour and a half because of the way it was filmed.
I loved the simplicity of the movie though, and surprisingly I never felt bored with it. Considering it is 95 minutes long, and the entire film does take place inside of a dark coffin, the plot managed to keep my interest. I think part of that is the fact that you can’t help but try to put yourself in Paul’s position. How would you react to being in that same situation? Yes, it’s slightly depressing, but it’s interesting to consider!
Also, I’m sure it can’t be easy to be the only actor in a film with so little space and/or props to work with, but Ryan Reynolds did a good job of carrying the movie.
Yes, it has it’s flaws. It does have one or two “No! What are you thinking? That’s a terrible idea!!” moments (such as the fact that he decides to keep his lighter lit through 85% of the film, because otherwise it just feels “so dark”. It’s not like he needs to try to conserve oxygen or anything, right?), but all in all I thought Buried was decent. It’s very simple, but well done. It definetly isn’t for everyone, but if the plot interests you at all, and you don’t mind dark indie thrillers, you might also enjoy this. Just don’t go into it expecting something “inspirational”, and you’ll be fine.
Happy movie watching!
-Katie