By Buried must be one of the cheapest movies I have seen in some time. All you really need is a small wooden coffin, a cellphone, a Zippo and Ryan Reynolds, and you got yourself a simple but actually quite entertaining movie.
Read on to find out why I was always a fan of single-location movies, and why Buried is no exception.
Paul Conroy (Ryan Reynolds) is an American contractor who is working in Iraq. Things don’t seem to go so well for him though, because the movie begins with Paul waking up in a pitch black coffin buried deep in the ground.
That’s pretty much all the story we get at the beginning of the movie. The audience has to figure things out together with Paul from here on out. The situation gets a bit clearer when Paul finds a cellphone as well as some other things inside the box. He manages to contact his captors with the phone and has to realise that he has been captured as hostage by Iraqi terrorists.
The Cellphone (a Blackberry which may or may not be a Curve 8900) plays a rather big role for the rest of the movie, becoming somewhat of a character on it’s own. His captors want money and they want h
Buried must be one of the cheapest movies I have seen in some time. All you really need is a small wooden coffin, a cellphone, a Zippo and Ryan Reynolds, and you got yourself a simple but actually quite entertaining movie.
Read on to find out why I was always a fan of single-location movies, and why Buried is no exception.
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Paul Conroy (Ryan Reynolds) is an American contractor who is working in Iraq. Things don't seem to go so well for him though, because the movie begins with Paul waking up in a pitch black coffin buried deep in the ground.
That's pretty much all the story we get at the beginning of the movie. The audience has to figure things out together with Paul from here on out. The situation gets a bit clearer when Paul finds a cellphone as well as some other things inside the box. He manages to contact his captors with the phone and has to realise that he has been captured as hostage by Iraqi terrorists.
The Cellphone (a Blackberry which may or may not be a Curve 8900) plays a rather big role for the rest of the movie, becoming somewhat of a character on it's own. His captors want money and they want him to obtain it.
What follows for the most part is Paul's dialog with different authorities as he desperately tries to find someone who is willing to help either finding him or getting the government to pay his ransom. I don't want to spoil anything, but we should all know by now how the U.S. government handles situations like these, and how often they actually pay a ransom.
The conversations are regularly interrupted by small, well let's call them action sequences, like trying to find signal strength (we all know how frustrating that is) or turning around. (I am still puzzled how he actually managed to do that)
Another important character is Dan Brenner. Dan is part of a group that has been founded especially for hostage situations like these and seems to be the only person who is actually interested in saving Paul. He may be Paul's last chance to survive his living burial.
As I said at the beginning I have a thing for single-location movies. Right off the bat I can name a few that I really enjoyed, like panic room, cube, Phone Booth, Reservoir Dogs or The Hole. Also much of the first Saw movie, and the part I enjoyed the most. I am also always open for suggestions 🙂
I guess I just like the idea that filmmakers who want to work with such a limitation have to do things a little bit differently than in most movies. You can't have action packed chase scenes or quick location changes to keep the audience awake. You have to work with what is there, and and keep things interesting with dialogue.
Score: 7.00 – Good. (7s are good, but not great. These films often have a stereotypical plot or are great movies that have a few minor flaws. Fans of this movie’s genre might love it, but others will still enjoy seeing it in theaters.)
The problem is, there is only one actor in Buried, so wether or not you will enjoy this movie will depend heavily on if you like Ryan Reynolds or not. I'm not a die hard fan of Reynolds, but I don't mind him at all. That said I believe that there would have been more potential in his role. When I see him I think "funny action movie guy" and not necessarily someone who can translate the fear and depression that one must have in a situation like this.
Other than that though, I think the story works. It's not overly complicated and the ending is definetely something you will think about after leaving the cinema.