Buried - Review

Sometimes, its best to keep things simple. The only thing is, that the simpler the premise, you run the risk of equating simple to boring. A film with a premise as incredibly basic as Buried could have easily gone that route. Does it fall victim to its simplicity or make something awesome out of it?

The movie stars Ryan Reynolds as Paul Conroy, an American truck driver working in Iraq. After his convoy is attacked by terrorists, Paul wakes up in a coffin buried six feet under ground. With only a cigarette lighter and cell phone in hand, Paul has only a small amount of time to save himself before he runs out of oxygen.

If that plot description seems short, its because it is. The whole movie takes place in the coffin. Literally 100% of the movie features Ryan Reynolds buried underground in a coffin. No cutaways, no flashbacks, no other settings... Buried brings new meaning to keeping it simple! Like I said at the beginning, a thriller with a concept so simplistic runs a serious risk of becoming bland. I can gladly say that is not the case with buried.

Right off the bat, you can see that the director, Rodrigo Cortés, is a huge fan of Alfred Hitchcock... the legendary filmmaker behind classics including Rear Window, Psycho, Vertigo and many more. The opening credits bear a striking resemblance to those in Psycho. Not to mention, the concept also resembles some of Hitchcock's one-room suspense movies like Rear Window or Lifeboat... both of which also took place mostly or all in one primary location.

You can't fault Rodrigo Cortés for taking inspiration from Hitchcock... after all, he was the master of suspense. And make no mistake, Cortés does a bang up job in this movie. Its a well directed thriller... with some extremely effective claustrophobic camerawork, a good performance from Reynolds (more on that soon), and a some absolutely nail-biting suspense. This is one of those movies that'll have a hard time getting out of your head after watching it. My only real gripe with Cortés is that he is so clearly stuck on Hitchcock's techniques that its hard to tell whether he put much of his own personal flair into this flick. I guess if you're going to rip off a director, it might as well be Hitchcock, but it would have been nice to see something that didn't feel so derivative. Again, I must stress that this movie is well directed. I'm hoping Cortés will be directing more movies soon.

Its Ryan Reynolds who really sells this movie. Working off no other actors is a challenge, even more so when you're spending the whole movie confined to a box. Aside from a few people he speaks with on his phone, his contact is limited and he's pretty much on his own. Make no mistake, almost all of the film's most suspenseful scenes are effective thanks due to Reynolds ability to sell the role. His performance comes off as legitimate, believable, and genuine... and extremely effective.

Overall, I enjoyed Buried. Its an effective nail-biting thriller that is worth at least one watch. Check it out!

4 out of 5!