Saturday, January 8, 2011

BURIED (2010) - Being buried alive sucks. Even if you're Ryan Reynolds.


It seems like Ryan Reynolds has apparently made a career out of romantic comedies. Go to a Blockbuster (if there's any still around) and walk over to the romance aisle and close your eyes. Pick out a random DVD and there's a good chance it'll have his face with a quirky smile, his arm around some chick, and a fantastic title like Definitely, Maybe. If you're really lucky, the cover might even have some kids on it. Luckily, there is light at the end of the tunnel. Now that he's becoming richer and more famous, he's been taking on better (better as in, more fighting, shooting, exploding things, etc) roles like Deadpool, a Blade sequel and the upcoming Green Lantern.

Even Ryan Reynolds gotta eat...
Buried is one of his latest movies, and is simply one of the most tense and exciting movies to come out in 2010. Normally when you hear the words "foreign" and "Indie," you think of shitty dramas or some hipster art film about a girl who collects dead birds and falls in love with a gay record store owner. Thankfully, there's no need for such worrying here.  The premise of the movie is simple enough: Paul Conroy is an American truck driver, working as a contractor in war torn Iraq. He wakes up one day, much to his chagrin, inside a fucking coffin. Spanish director Rodrigo Cortés manages to make 94 minutes of a guy stuck inside a box seem like a roller coaster ride. ¡Viva España!

Buried alive with no decent games on your phone. What the hell could be worse?
The movie starts with no introduction and no explanation. Paul wakes up in the pitch black, fumbles around and has a panic attack. He finds his lighter, flicks it on, and to his horror realizes he is inside a coffin. At first, he has absolutely no idea why he's been.... well, you know, buried alive. To his surprise, his BlackBerry is still on him. Piece by piece he manages to recreate what happened to him the day. He remembers that the convoy he was driving in was ambushed by insurgents. The rest of the drivers were murdered, and Paul had such shit luck the Iraqis decided to have a good laugh and bury him alive. He manages to get in contact with the FBI, his employers, and eventually his wife. Things however, might not be exactly as they seem. At first, no one believes his story. His employers are somewhat sketchy, the FBI investigator doesn't sound too convincing, and to make things worse, he gets a phone call from the asshole terrorist who put him in the box to begin with. Oh yeah, the guy wants a $5 million ransom or he'll let Paul suffocate to death.

Claustrophobic? Sucks to be you, Paul...
Paul will have to deal with the FBI trying to find him, the terrorists trying to get their ransom, his employers trying to wash their hands of the whole ordeal, and the slow death of his cell phone battery. There's a few good twists around the halfway part of the movie that had me wanting to high five someone. Needless to say, this is an intense movie. Scenes move quickly, and things begin to spiral out of control at what seems to be a frantic pace. Reynolds does a great job with his role, as we see Paul run through the whole gamut of emotions you'd expect from some poor average guy stuck in the middle of some Middle Eastern hellhole, buried in a box underground and tortured over the phone by a gruff voiced Iraqi. Despite the limited setting, the camera moves around a lot, and there are some very cool scenes inside the coffin, which contrasts nicely with the drama that comes from Paul's phone conversations.

FOREVER (BURIED) ALONE.
Although it's somewhat of an unknown indie film, Buried was among the best movies of 2010 - it stuck to its premise very well and delivered a fresh take on the thriller genre that lately has been turning out loads of crap upon crap. It's fun. It's thrilling. It's somewhat unpredictable. Reynolds does a stand-up job and keeps your attention despite the fact you'd expect people would get sick of seeing a single face throughout the entire movie. The pacing is very fast, the tension very well done, and the ending was one of the most satisfying I've seen in a long while. It's a shame this flick went under the radar for most people. Definitely recommended.

TL;DR - Buried alive in the Iraqi desert by terrorists with only a cellphone for company. Damn what a rush - 8.5/10

33 comments:

  1. The only thing worse than being Ryan Reynolds trapped in a coffin... is being trapped with Ryan Reynolds in a coffin.

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  2. Hope he didn't have burritos for breakfast.

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  3. How can the blackberry work underground, surely his reception is terrible.

    Can we get some David Lynch film reviews?

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  4. Yes, id say being buried alive would suck!

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  5. yo....thats out already?? wtf i need to see that..im youtubing that right now

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  6. Another great review from the incredible movie watcher guy, what a surprise. Well done!

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  7. I was unsure about this movie but you convinced me Im going to check it out.

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  8. I wanna see it!

    Anyways, cool blog, I'll follow!

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  9. i lol'd at that last picture. i'm not a big fan of movies where people are stuck in things though.. like phonebooth. damn that movie sucked.

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  10. I've been putting off watching this one, but now you've convinced me.

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  12. Did you make the 5th pic yourself because I loled

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  13. Aw man i saw this the other day. Such an epic film!

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  14. Ryan Reynolds in a movie that doesn't suck?! Wow, this might be worth checking out.

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  15. I love Ryan Reynolds. I don't know why, but I do. So I will look out for this.

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  16. I should watch this movie when I get the chance! :)

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  17. Everyone's worst nightmare. But seriously, this was my nightmare when I was a kid. Would be one of the worst things. Finally a film has been made about it. Good find mate. P.S. New Follower

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  18. You convinced me! I'll try and watch it asap!
    Also Spain has great movies like Rec and stuff...

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  19. Ive watched this film and agree it is an adrenaline rush. Nice review!

    I like you style so ive put you on follow

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  20. last photo epic xDD very good review :P and nice blog :) folow you :D

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  21. how the heck do you call that ending satisfying?

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  22. i mean he dies?! they dig up the wrong coffin and all the guy on the phone can say is sorry, its the guy i told you we rescued last weeks grave not yours, sorry you can die now bye. that was not satisfying!

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  23. Satisfying ment, Your not left not knowing what happens. He Freakin dies. end of the whole story. Great Movie. worth watching.

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  24. What a bullshit movie!

    The end is so obvious as soon as "brenner" calls, you know he is not close.
    No hollywood ending, but why not? The movie would have been better with it.

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  25. Worst
    Movie
    Ever!!

    Even worse than the last Airbender

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  26. Such an intense movie, but the ending was a let down. Who wants to see a handsome man like that die in such a way. I couldn't get the movie out of my mind for days and hope it was completely fictitious.

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  27. Never been so pissed off at the end of a movie. I could give a rats ass how realistic it was. He should've lived. Movies are meant to give false hope. Not discourage you. F the ending.

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  28. THE COST OF THE SINGLE RENTAL FOR THIS MOVIE WAS MORE THAN THE COST TO MAKE IT!!! I WANT TO MAKE A MOVIE OF ME STUCK IN MY CAR!!! HOLLYWOOD ARE YOU READING THIS??? I WILL WORK CHEAP & SUPPLY THE CAR AND CAMERA & STAR IN IT FOR $5.00 AND IT WILL BE BETTER THAN BURIED!!!!

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