One actor. One coffin. Director Rodrigo Cortes (THE CONTESTANT) and writer Chris Sparling (upcoming FALLING SLOWLY) have created an amazingly tense thriller with these simple elements. The camera never leaves star Ryan Reynolds and we never see anyone other than him. It starts and ends in the coffin. There is no escape for the audience.
Reynolds plays Paul Conroy, a truck driver for a contractor in Iraq. His convoy was attacked and he was taken hostage. He awakes buried alive. His captors have supplied him with a cell phone. They call him and demand millions for his release. Conroy calls his wife, 911, the FBI, and his work. If you thought being put on hold was bad enough, try it when you're six feet under ground.
This is a perfect example of where great writing and great directing needed to work hand in hand to make a film work. Sparling's tightly written script could have been rendered limp in the hands of a director who didn't have a perfect sense of pacing. Even in the confined space of the coffin, Cortes keeps his mise en scene exciting. A moving camera combined with close-ups and the occasional God's eyeshot where we see Conroy inside the coffin surrounded a sea of blackness keeps the action moving a fast click.
But Cortes' direction would not accomplish the same tension if it weren't for the increasing and plausible obstacles that are placed in Conroy's way. As one might expect, the Iraq setting brings with it a certain political commentary. But it's not a right or left point of view. While some of the things that happen might be viewed as unlikely, they are not outside the realm of our worst fears about how bad the world has gotten. And I'm not talking impractical conspiracy theories, but cold hard cynicism.
Reynolds does a remarkable job with the material he was given. Because we never leave him, we are 100% invested in his story. We begin to feel his fear, anger, frustration, desperation, sadness and even joy. But he isn't the only actor working here. We hear the voices of the people he calls. His captor Jabir (Jose Luis Garcia Perez) only makes the situation more infuriating with impossible demands. Dan Brenner (Robert Paterson, SAHARA) is an FBI agent, who acts as a lifeline to Conroy as he desperately tries to locate the kidnapped driver. Stephen Tobolowsky (GROUNDHOG DAY) was the perfect choice for Alan Davenport, the middle-management pencil pusher from Conroy's company. Linda (Samantha Mathis, LITTLE WOMEN) is Conroy's wife, who sadly wasn't home when he first calls.
If you have even a touch of claustrophobia the film will make your skin crawl. What happens to this man will make you want to pull out your hair. It's the kind of film that involves the viewer so much that they get vocal about the things that happen. There have been other films that have dealt with the concept of being buried alive, but none have put the viewer so much into the experience.
Buy "Buried" on Blu-ray and DVD Here!
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
