Howdee do everyone!! Welcome to another Movie Review from Captain Random. Today's film is "Buried" starring Ryan Reynolds, and ooonly Ryan Reynolds. Well sort of anyway. Released in 2010, the film is an up close and personal account of a kidnapped contract worker in Iraq who wakes up in a box buried alive somewhere in the Iraqi desert. The entire film is shot inside the dark forbidding crate with Reynolds starring as Paul Conroy.
Conroy is a contract truck driver who was in Iraq working for a company that transported supplies for rebuilding the infrastructure in areas affected by the ongoing conflicts there. From the moment he wakes up from being unconscious, we follow Paul in his anxiety of realizing where he is, and the first few minutes of the film show a screaming, scared man who is rightfully freaking out.
The military convoy that was escorting Paul and his colleagues was hit with a coordinated assault by insurgents, during which most if not all of who he was with was killed or captured. His abductors put him in the "coffin" that he was in and buried him, his location unknown.
As Paul calms down and surveys his surroundings, he realizes he has a Zippo lighter, a flask with some good stuff still in it, his medication, some empty pistachio shells, and of all things a cell phone. The phone was placed in there by his abductors, under the guise of him recording a pre-written statement to be uploaded to the captors. But Paul uses the phone, which is in Arabic, to contact various locations in the continental US, most importantly, his wife, but she does not answer.
At one point Paul takes a call from his captor, who demands he pay them millions for his release. The back and forth phone calls tell us he's buried relatively close to the surface, but a contact he made with a representative of an organization who negotiates on behalf of US citizens is unable to trace the calls.
The film continues for an intriguing account of a man desperate to get home, and frustrated that no one is helping him. He not only faces the idea of running out of air, but there are other detractors at work, notably a poisonous snake that makes it's way in(my favorite scene by far), the dying battery on the cell phone, and leaking sand that's now trickling in.
The most emotional moment in the film was Paul's call to his mother, who is in a rest home with Alzheimer's.
Reynolds is perfect for the role, and his portrayal of Conroy is an emotional testament to not only having the audience feel enclosed and trapped with him, but also addresses the socio-political issues of a war in a foreign land.
The ENTIRE film is buried with him, and the only other person you see is a colleague of his on a video uplink on his phone, who by the way is also held captive elsewhere. The film builds from anxiety, to resolve, to his inevitable acceptance that he may not make it out alive. The ending was both intense and unexpected. I enjoyed this film, but it certainly isn't award worthy. Will Paul Conroy be rescued in time? Check it out. One to Ten scale.....a solid 7.
Capt. Random out.
