Stars: Ryan Reynolds
Director: Rodrigo Cortes
Release Date: January 18, 2011
MPAA Rating: R
Paul Conroy (Ryan Reynolds) is a contractor for a company based out of the United States. While in Iraq attempting to deliver supplies, Paul's truck and team are ambushed by a group of Iraqis. He is knocked out and when he wakes up he's in a wooden box a few feet below the Iraqi desert. All he has to help him is a Zippo lighter, a small flask of booze, a small knife and, most importantly, a cell phone. He must use all of his resources carefully to survive, or he'll perish.
His kidnapper, whom Paul communicates with via the cell phone he finds in the coffin, wants him to secure $5 million as a ransom and only then will they release him. Paul calls various people, including the State Department, his employer, his wife and even the FBI. With each phone call, the battery on his phone decreases, along with any hope of being rescued. All he, and we as the audience, can do is wait.
Ryan Reynolds, mostly known for romantic comedies like The Proposal and Definitely, Maybe, rarely shows off his dramatic chops. In Buried, however, he proves that he is more than just a fantastic set of arms and a handsome face. He dominates this movie and I'm not just saying that because he is the only actor we actually see during the entire movie. His fear is our fear. His tragedy is ours. We don't need (and seldom do we get) dialogue from Paul to know what he's feeling, but we don't really need it anyway. All Reynolds has to do is use his facial expressions and even his frantic breathing to let us know exactly what Paul is feeling at any given moment.
As previously mentioned, Reynolds is the only actor we actually see because we are stuck in the coffin the entire movie. That's right: the entire movie. There are no flashbacks, flash-forwards, or split-screens when Paul is talking to someone on the phone. This is quite a brave decision for Spanish director Rodrigo Cortes, but it works. We feel just as trapped and suffocated as Paul.
While it was critically acclaimed when it was released, Buried didn't do well enough in independent theaters to receive a wider release. Luckily, it's now available on a Blu-ray/DVD combo pack. The special features, however, are pretty bare bones with just a 'making of' feature and a trailer.
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