Ryan Reynolds in a box for 95 minutes. For anyone who hasn't seen 'Buried' yet you're probably not thinking of seeing it anytime soon, but you shouldn't judge books by their covers should you?
Somewhat surprisingly, Buried manages to be a storming success. A unique film that has 'cult classic' written all over it. I won't go into detail about the film as it's hard to discuss much without major spoilers but it's a film that I saw last week and has been playing in my mind ever since..
We begin with a black screen and the sound of breathing, more specifically the breathing of 'Berg' from 'Two Guys, A Girl & A Pizza Place' (which isn't out on DVD, despite being a great show, seriously whoever is responsible for that needs slapping with a wet kipper). We stay in darkness for a few minutes before finally seeing a glimpse of what we are dealing with thanks to a ZIPPO lighter. What follows is one of the best written films of the year (credit to writer Chris Sparling).
Reynolds plays a lorry driver working in Iraq who has been ambushed and held hostage under the ground. Reynolds is armed with a series of aids however, each offering their own risks and rewards, we have the aforementioned lighter which offers light but also burns precious oxygen, a mobile phone which allows contact with the outside world but understandably has patchy reception and a rapidly depleting battery and a Pencil which can be used to make a note of numbers and details (as the phone isn't on an English setting) but for the notes to be visible he must use item 1 or 2.
I really don't want to go any further into details of the film as anything past the opening scene is a spoiler, and I hate spoilers. What I will say is that for a film with one visible actor and one cramped and dark location this is a thrilling film with sharp writing, a well thought out plot and a performance that probably won't win Reynolds much mainstream recognition but should, he covers just about every emotion going and gives the performance of his career, without even taking his top off.
One last point about the film, if like me you have a fear of being buried alive then this film will make you panic (being buried alive is actually my second biggest fear, but don't worry my biggest fear also makes an appearance in a coincidence I can only describe as 'Truman Show-esque'), and if you don't have a fear of being buried alive you've gone wrong in the mind tank and should probably go to the doctors before even thinking of going the cinema. The claustraphobia in the film is intense, you never leave the cramped confines of the coffin; which is not to say that the films is lacking visually, somehow it's shot from every possible angle and is a great looking film, kudos to director Rodrigo Cortés.
To summarise this film is Ryan Reynolds in a box, and it will make you laugh, cry, scream and squirm; in short you need to go and see this, it is by no means a perfect film but it is the sort of film that I'm sure I'm not alone in wanting to see more of on the big screen. Original, interesting, genre defying and a pretty good date movie if that's your sort of thing.
7/10
