Fantastic Fest 2010: BURIED Review
Full marks to director Rodrigo Cortes. Under the most limiting circumstances imaginable he has created a picture both rife with tension and shockingly cinematic. This is a movie that spends its entire running time - every single moment - with Ryan Reynolds alone in a box. And yet it feels every inch as though it takes place in a much larger world and constantly surprises with its ability to manipulate tension and space to create a completely immersive and compelling experience.
Reynolds is Paul Conroy, an American truck driver working as a contractor in Iraq. Not a soldier, Paul is just a working class guy driving supplies across a dangerous land when his convoy is attacked, he is knocked unconscious, kidnapped, and entombed underground in a coffin. This is where we join him and this is where he remains.
Paul wakes afraid and confused, bound alone in the dark, with limited supplies. He has a flask. A pen. And - as he discovers when it buzzes to life - a cell phone. A phone with which he will develop a very intimate relationship as it is his only link to the outside world, the avenue by which he receives threats and ransom demands from his captors while trying frantically to reach out and connect with someone who may have a prayer of finding and saving him.
It seems a bit disingenuous to say that Buried is the ultimate 'man in a box' film, but it is. Cortes has a film here that fully understands the consequences and ramifications of its premise and explores them fully. If there is anything you can do with a man in a box, this film does it and does it well. It masterfully plays on Paul's growing sense of anxiety, helplessness and claustrophobia as it portrays a man slowly, inexorably breaking down. Our tension rises as Paul's does, the seeming inevitability of his fate fueling the build of nervous, jittery energy.
That the film succeeds is down entirely to three elements. First is the stellar script by Chris Sparling, one that turns limitations into strengths as it presents a beautifully nuanced portrayal of this man in desperate circumstance. This was a Black List script and it shows. Second is the stellar work by Cortes, who both directs and edits with exactly the right balance of of style and restraint. Cortes infuses the film with a remarkable amount of energy purely by his choices in camera moves - it's a shockingly nimble film visually for something occurring in such a tight space - and his sharp edit. And, finally, there is Reynolds himself who delivers what is easily the best dramatic performance of his career.
Do not let the limited confines of the premise fool you. Buried is a sharp piece of work, one that will be best appreciated on the big screen. Headed into limited release next week, this is one to catch.
Reynolds is Paul Conroy, an American truck driver working as a contractor in Iraq. Not a soldier, Paul is just a working class guy driving supplies across a dangerous land when his convoy is attacked, he is knocked unconscious, kidnapped, and entombed underground in a coffin. This is where we join him and this is where he remains.
Paul wakes afraid and confused, bound alone in the dark, with limited supplies. He has a flask. A pen. And - as he discovers when it buzzes to life - a cell phone. A phone with which he will develop a very intimate relationship as it is his only link to the outside world, the avenue by which he receives threats and ransom demands from his captors while trying frantically to reach out and connect with someone who may have a prayer of finding and saving him.
It seems a bit disingenuous to say that Buried is the ultimate 'man in a box' film, but it is. Cortes has a film here that fully understands the consequences and ramifications of its premise and explores them fully. If there is anything you can do with a man in a box, this film does it and does it well. It masterfully plays on Paul's growing sense of anxiety, helplessness and claustrophobia as it portrays a man slowly, inexorably breaking down. Our tension rises as Paul's does, the seeming inevitability of his fate fueling the build of nervous, jittery energy.
That the film succeeds is down entirely to three elements. First is the stellar script by Chris Sparling, one that turns limitations into strengths as it presents a beautifully nuanced portrayal of this man in desperate circumstance. This was a Black List script and it shows. Second is the stellar work by Cortes, who both directs and edits with exactly the right balance of of style and restraint. Cortes infuses the film with a remarkable amount of energy purely by his choices in camera moves - it's a shockingly nimble film visually for something occurring in such a tight space - and his sharp edit. And, finally, there is Reynolds himself who delivers what is easily the best dramatic performance of his career.
Do not let the limited confines of the premise fool you. Buried is a sharp piece of work, one that will be best appreciated on the big screen. Headed into limited release next week, this is one to catch.
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