Buried
Directed By: Rodrgio Cortes
Written By: Chris Sparling
Starring: Ryan Reynolds
Being buried alive is not a nice experience; I do not speak from personal experience but from the experience of watching Buried, a claustrophobic, gripping and intense drama that fully explores the potential behind that terrifying premise.
Starring Ryan Reynolds, the whole film takes place within the confines of a coffin, no flashbacks, no scenes in other locations, simply a whole film inside a box. While that may sound like a challenging prospect, it is and credit must be given to the filmmakers who have been able to create the most visually exciting film possible out of its one location setting. The direction by Rodrigo Cortes is incredibly skilled; you would be surprised with the lavish camera movements he is able to pull off in such a tight space. The music to the film also adds to the tense, emotional and exciting moments of the film with the cinematography and sound perfectly creating the tone and giving you the feeling that you are down there in that box with poor Paul Conroy.
However the star of the film is undoubtedly Ryan Reynolds, whose performances carries the film and demonstrates what a fantastic actor he is. Reynolds was the best thing about the previous X Men film and hopefully this will propel him into the stardom and recognition he deserves. One scene in particular involving a phone call to the characters mother fully demonstrates his talents. A scene that could have come off as cheesy is infact arguably the most emotional moment in cinema of 2010. It is without a doubt the performance of his career so far and one of the performances of the year.
For a film set entirely in one location the film is never boring and is perfectly paced as it builds towards its tense last ten minutes. Those who are claustrophobic may already find the film terrifying and for those people the film may very well be too much to handle. However speaking as somebody who does not have such a phobia of tight spaces, I did not find the film overly scary, it was exciting, tense, emotional in parts and exciting however the main fear arises from its simple concept. What would it be like to be buried alive?
One main obstacle Buried had to deal with was, how to end such a film in a satisfying manner and while some may disagree over the ending, I personally felt it was a perfect and gut wrenching way to end what had been an incredibly tense climax. Buried however is not a film for everybody and its style and approach takes no prisoners what so ever. There a few scenes where the film really excels, for instance a phone call to his mother, a scene where he records a certain message on the cell phone and a scene where he contemplates suicide are all powerful scenes that will remain in my mind and yours long after the film finishes. Do not however mistake this film for merely a simple thriller, there is a political message, theme and subtext behind the film that could easily spark deep after film discussion and debate about the war in Iraq and how companies treat their employees.
Overall Buried is a breath of fresh air, and a film that is fantastically made and shows just how much you can do with a simple setting and story. Brave, gripping and featuring one of the performances of the year, Buried is one of the cinematic highlights of 2010 and a film well worth checking out.
One Sentence Summary: Claustrophobic, gripping and intense, with its fine central performance from Ryan Reynolds, Buried is one of the cinematic highlights of 2010.
8/10
By Michael Dalton
Starring Ryan Reynolds, the whole film takes place within the confines of a coffin, no flashbacks, no scenes in other locations, simply a whole film inside a box. While that may sound like a challenging prospect, it is and credit must be given to the filmmakers who have been able to create the most visually exciting film possible out of its one location setting. The direction by Rodrigo Cortes is incredibly skilled; you would be surprised with the lavish camera movements he is able to pull off in such a tight space. The music to the film also adds to the tense, emotional and exciting moments of the film with the cinematography and sound perfectly creating the tone and giving you the feeling that you are down there in that box with poor Paul Conroy.
However the star of the film is undoubtedly Ryan Reynolds, whose performances carries the film and demonstrates what a fantastic actor he is. Reynolds was the best thing about the previous X Men film and hopefully this will propel him into the stardom and recognition he deserves. One scene in particular involving a phone call to the characters mother fully demonstrates his talents. A scene that could have come off as cheesy is infact arguably the most emotional moment in cinema of 2010. It is without a doubt the performance of his career so far and one of the performances of the year.
For a film set entirely in one location the film is never boring and is perfectly paced as it builds towards its tense last ten minutes. Those who are claustrophobic may already find the film terrifying and for those people the film may very well be too much to handle. However speaking as somebody who does not have such a phobia of tight spaces, I did not find the film overly scary, it was exciting, tense, emotional in parts and exciting however the main fear arises from its simple concept. What would it be like to be buried alive?
One main obstacle Buried had to deal with was, how to end such a film in a satisfying manner and while some may disagree over the ending, I personally felt it was a perfect and gut wrenching way to end what had been an incredibly tense climax. Buried however is not a film for everybody and its style and approach takes no prisoners what so ever. There a few scenes where the film really excels, for instance a phone call to his mother, a scene where he records a certain message on the cell phone and a scene where he contemplates suicide are all powerful scenes that will remain in my mind and yours long after the film finishes. Do not however mistake this film for merely a simple thriller, there is a political message, theme and subtext behind the film that could easily spark deep after film discussion and debate about the war in Iraq and how companies treat their employees.
Overall Buried is a breath of fresh air, and a film that is fantastically made and shows just how much you can do with a simple setting and story. Brave, gripping and featuring one of the performances of the year, Buried is one of the cinematic highlights of 2010 and a film well worth checking out.
One Sentence Summary: Claustrophobic, gripping and intense, with its fine central performance from Ryan Reynolds, Buried is one of the cinematic highlights of 2010.
8/10
By Michael Dalton
