Buried (2010)
Directed by Rodrigo Cortes
Written by Chris Sparling
Starring Ryan Reynolds
Release Date September 24th, 2010
Published November 19th, 2010
Ever since it debuted at Sundance in 2010 audiences have been clamoring to see “Buried” the buzz-heavy buried alive thriller starring budding superstar Ryan Reynolds. More than a year later the film arrived on DVD with so little fanfare that many film fans may not have even known it was there. How did Lionsgate, the company that produced and distributed “Buried” manage to screw up the release of this unbelievably good movie? I will tell you how; it's your fault.
Ryan Reynolds stars as Paul Conroy, a truck driver working for a civilian contractor in Iraq. Though we never actually see the attack we eventually learn that Paul was driving near the end of a convoy delivering supplies when it was attacked. Paul was knocked unconscious and now finds himself awake buried in a wooden box somewhere in the desert.
That is the set up of “Buried;” the execution involves a cell phone, a lighter and Ryan Reynolds's considerable talent for fearful breathing, screaming and general freaking out. Director Rogrigo Garcia puts us in the box with Reynolds and the feeling is shockingly claustrophobia inducing considering that we can just turn off the DVD and walk away.
As the camera roams around as if making room for Paul to squirm around us, his fellow captives, we squirm and breath shallow breaths and desperately hope whatever oxygen is left will be enough. We leap when the cellphone he's been given in order to arrange ransom rings and we feel every bit of Paul's rage at the series of functionaries and fools who attempt to placate and pacify the buried man.
Most of all we feel Paul's anguish as calls to his wife go unanswered and a call to his mother offers the saddest of all results. The harsh voice of the kidnapper is a muffled, thickly accented growl that offers no hope of reprieve even if outrageous demands of millions of dollars are met. Any outward sound, explosions or even the sound of the Muslim call to prayer, somehow heard through the dirt offer as much hope as terror.
Buried is a triumph of a cinematic technique from the ways in which Garcia induces claustrophobia within the audience through classic film techniques in lighting and editing to the exceptional makeup and especially the well measured terror of star Ryan Reynolds who shakes off all of his natural charm to expose a man in pure terror and what that experience might be like for anyone.
So, why did “Buried” bomb so badly? It's our fault. As filmgoers we say we want different and challenging movies and we talk a good game about wanting to see “Buried” as the buzz was building but when it comes along we tend toward avoiding it. Take for instance another much more famous claustrophobic experience in fear, Best Picture nominee “127 Hours.” Despite near universal acclaim and Oscar nominations audiences have stayed away and the film has barely broken a meager 20 million dollars at the box office.
The makers of “Buried” pushed the film out to a few theaters and while critics raved, audiences stayed away and sought more familiar and safer movies. For heavens sake “Piranha 3D” made more than both “Buried” and “127 Hours” combined in its first week at the box office! This is your fault!
Never mind that “Buried” has more honest terror in 10 minutes of it's 95 minute runtime than a million “Piranha 3D's” or “Hostel's” or whatever other garbage Eli Roth types slap their name on, Americans want their movies dumb and ugly not exceptionally crafted and truly terrifying. That's why “Buried” is languishing in obscurity on Netflix and gathering dust in Redbox's across the country. It's YOUR FAULT!
You can make up for your lack of taste however. Rent “Buried” today. Give some love to a movie that deserves it and will pay it back with a movie watching experience more honest and compelling than anything you have seen other than maybe “127 Hours” or maybe a handful of other film's released in the last year.
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