Film Review: Buried (2010)

BOTTOM LINE: Taking the one location premise to the extreme, "Buried" is an intense, claustrophobic thriller that sustains tension and interest throughout its run time until an absolute downer of an ending.

THE GOOD: "Buried" plays on the primal fear of being buried alive in a coffin. The entire film showcases lead character Paul Conroy's (Reynolds) experience within that coffin and his attempts to get out. At first glance it would seem that there would not be enough here to sustain a feature film, but director Rodrigo Cortes wrings every last drop of tension out of this claustrophobic story of an Iraqi contractor who is being held for ransom, with his captors choosing to bury him in a box underground somewhere in the Iraq desert. Cortes uses a couple of devices to slowly build the tension; Conroy finds a mobile phone, a lighter and eventually some other objects which he uses throughout the story, but the mobile phone is the most crucial as he is able to stay in contact with the outside world, including the chilling calls he has with his captors. One of the interesting aspects with the phone calls is a borderline political rhetoric to do with attitudes of the American forces, particularly in one scene where Conroy's employer terminates his employment with them, and proceeds to explain how they are not liable for his situation. Ryan Reynolds deserve a lot of acting credit here in that his face is the only one we see for the entire film and he does an excellent job of holding our attention through his desperate performance. Cortes is very clever in staging sequences that build an incredible amount of tension, ranging from the appearance of a deadly snake in the coffin, to the conversational dynamics of the mobile phone calls, to the moment where Conroy is forced to cut off his own finger to save his family. Cortes was apparently inspired by the works of Alfred Hitchcock and you would think the master of suspense would be happy with this effort. "Buried" is an effective suspense film that uses simple techniques to sustain a thrilling story.

THE BAD: Although inevitable, and probably a realistic conclusion, the ending is an absolute downer that removes any sense of worth from the experience of watching this film. By 'downer', I guess I don't have to explain what happens. Given this film plays on an almost instinctual fear, this ending, and the false hope leading up to it, finishes the film on an unpleasant note that is very unsatisfying. This may be up to personal taste, as it is no doubt a realistic ending that others may think is warranted. One other annoying aspect was the use of some of camera angles which are designed to open up the frame but clearly are impossible as they are positioned from outside the box. They are well done, but somehow misplaced. Given the tension in the story and performance, they were probably not warranted.