A movie review: Buried

During my long trainride home yesterday I decided to watch a film on my netbook. I have a whole bunch of films on there that I uploaded from a friend's computer. I saw Buried and I remembered my friend telling me it was good, but not your average film, as the whole film takes place under the ground in a coffin. I delayed watching it as I thought an hour and a half of someone in a coffin sounded really heavy and possibly dull. But yesterday I decided to give it a shot. And yes, it is a heavy film, but anything but dull. I may have spent most of the film with my hand in front of my mouth looking terrified and shocked, probably giving the people around me a good laugh, but I thought it was an amazing and unique film.

I'll give you a quick re-cap of the storyline. Paul Conroy is an American truckdriver who has been deployed to Iraq to drive around supplies. He and his convoy get attacked by a bunch of Iraqis, shooting everyone. Paul gets hit on the head and wakes up in hell. He finds himself in a wooden coffin under the ground. He only has a lighter and a phone and starts a race against time to try and call someone who might be able to help him out. Of course the poor man is totally panicking, especially when an Iraqi man calls him on the phone and tells him he wants money and a video of him in the coffin.

I never thought a movie that takes places in a dark coffin from the first second to the last would be this exciting. It's heartclenchingly good, you spend the entire film freaking out along with Paul, annoyed at the unhelpful people on the phone, and praying he makes it out.
Ryan Reynolds, who plays Paul Conroy, was a big suprise to me. I remember him as a silly actor who played in annoying comedies, but wow did he prove me wrong in this film. He plays the role of his life, displaying a whole range of emotions going from total panic to screaming at people over the phone in anger and frustration.

The camera work is brilliant, one moment you're there in the claustrophic box with Paul, the other you're watching from afar as he lies there surrounded by darkness. There are even moments when the screen is just utterly black, just hearing Paul's panicking breath, which really adds to the horror of the situation.

And the ending of the film! Well, I won't tell you, but I can say that I was biting my nails and freaking out, wanting to shout out at the screen..it was the most gutwrenching and suspenseful last five minutes of a film I've ever seen. I was left staring with mouth open at the end. I just had to write a review about this film, because it made a huge impact on me.

I realise this kind of minimalistic film is not for everyone, but if you enjoy suspense and sitting at the edge of your seat wondering what will happen next give this film a try.

It's really a gem of a film, really really surprised me.