An intriguing Spanish indie-thriller starring Ryan Reynolds (The Proposal) as a civilian contractor in Iraq. He awakes to find himself buried alive in a coffin, with only a lighter, a knife and a cell phone. Initially he can't remember how we got there, but his memory slowly begins to return...
Fancy spending 95 minutes stuck in a box with Ryan Reynolds? Us neither. But prepare yourself, because Buried might well be the best thriller of the year. It’s certainly the easiest to synopsise.
A contractor kidnapped in Iraq, Paul Conroy (Reynolds) wakes alone, unmissed, somewhere underground (but not so far that he can’t get a mobile phone signal). We hear him before we see him, panting, panicking, literally wasting his breath in terror, and then we barely see anything else for the rest of the film. Illuminated only by his lighter, Conroy calls the authorities back home, wading through various levels of bureaucratic fuckwittery to discover some people put death (his) before dishonour (theirs). It’s an excruciating situation, masterfully played by Reynolds, whose anguished despatches to loved ones past and present fill in the petty little details that make up a life.
Film is an irrepressibly social medium; Reynolds an irrepressibly (some might say irritatingly) verbal actor, so there’s something both genius and obscene about subjecting him to solitary confinement by cinema. Though lesser talents would have been unable to resist cutaway scenes and flashbacks – anything to open up the story – Cortés and Sparling know that if we leave this impromptu tomb for even a second it sacrifices the sadistic cachet they’ve built up across 95 nerve-shredding minutes. We never do. The result is a watertight, watch-once fight-or-flight flick that refuses to let its main character – or the audience – off the hook, however much they wish it would.
By Matt Glasby, Flicks.co.nz
I absolutely adore films that use small set-pieces as the main point of action but with this film i was completely taken aback with how well the idea of 'one-man-in-a-box' functioned in terms of narrative. I was never bored nor did i find myself thinking about other things. This film completely engrossed me from start to the awesome, awesome ending. I will be keeping a close eye on Buried's talented director.
I'm speechless, this is a great thriller and can really get to you.
Wow! I thought it was genius! How on earth they managed to make a feature length film set completely in a coffin interesting and exciting and as tense as they did with such a variation in colour and shooting is beyond me! Plus of course I've got a man crush on Ryan... So... But still the movie was AWESOME!
I just finished watching this very mundane, boring movie. Reynolds simply did not have the range to pull it off. Their were several parts in the movie where I actually was rooting against him. To make things worse, the ending was completely pointless and very disappointing. I would not recomment thim movie to anyone. Please don't waste your time!
Movie was great. I wasn't expecting to much as it was just a guy in a box. But it kept me entertained for the whole time a few surprises here and there. Didn't end the way I wanted it to though. But overall a good movie
The use of 2:35 wide screen paradoxically increases the effect of claustrophobia. I would not like to be buried alive.
The entire story is told from within the claustrophobic confines of a coffin buried six feet under.
A brutally intense indie that commits to its bleak premise and doesn't back down. Tarantino will cackle as he watches.
On a technical level Buried is impressive, at times blisteringly suspenseful.
In the movie's cheapest, most exploitative gesture - just as it is about to run out of tricks - a snake slithers into the pine box in which Paul awakens bound and gagged, not knowing where he is. With that gimmick, the movie sacrifices its last shred of integrity.
We've been told the NZ release date for this flick is Thursday, 7th Oct 2010.
Release date: October 7th 2010.
We haven't received times for this movie in this location yet. However these are updated as cinemas announce them, so check back soon. Hopefully the lovely cinemas in your location will choose to play it shortly. ~Ed.
