Boxed In

BURIED is a movie starring Ryan Reynolds set entirely in a coffin in Iraq. No Really, it is. This is really a review of it.

 

Release date: 29 September 2010

Directed by: Rodrigo Cortés

Starring: Ryan Reynolds

Cert: 15a

Running Time: 95 mins

Click here for the trailer

Given its title, if I told you that BURIED was a movie about a man in a box for an hour and a half you may retort that there are many such films on the internet, and that watching that sort of thing in a cinema would be inappropriate without a long coat and a pocket pack of handkerchiefs. BURIED is in fact a movie about a man trapped in a coffin and not, as its name and synopsis suggest, a dirty film. The only dirt here is the dirt the box is buried in.

 

Why is the man in the box though? Well, Paul Conroy (Ryan Reynolds) is a truck driver for an American firm working in Iraq. While going about his daily drivery, he and his coleagues were attacked by some insurgent type fellows, who killed the rest of convoy and knocked out poor Paulie. The film begins at the point where he wakes up with only a cigarette lighter to illuminate his cramped surroundings. That is until a phone rings. Don’t bother asking how he can get coverage underground, you will only end up frustrated by the lack of a logical answer.

 

The first thirtyish minutes of the film consist of wee bit of panicky screaming followed by Paul ringing home to trying to convince anyone who’ll listen of the situation he’s in. Most are rightfully suspicious about his ability to make an international call on a cell phone from underneath Iraq.

 

This thrity-minute spell is the result of a box that the inventor of this piece put himself in. Similar to Paul’s situation, there is very little wiggle room for a story when there is only one character in a coffin. Eventually however an FBI agent believes him and they have a chat that gets the action – if you could call it that – moving. Soon after that call another involving Paul’s captor informs us that he is being held for a ransom of $5 million. The rest of the film involves the terrorist trying to get Paul to be as public as possible and the FBI agent trying to keep hush hush. Paul flip flops between listening to both out of desperation.

 

Your enjoyment of this movie will largely depend on your feelings towards Ryan  “Marmite” Reynolds. If you liked his backchatting in Van Wilder, you will like his comic reposts to the officials on the phone. If you didn’t like his smartass attitude in Wolverine, you may hate the fact that he gets lippy with the people capable of helping him. If you found him attractive in anything he’s been in, you’ll like the fact that, apart from a very short MMS, his is the only face on the screen for the entire film. If you’re girlfriend finds him attractive, you may not.

 

If you don’t like him there won’t be much here for you. Visually, it looks as good as a film set in a box can look. The double standard of how “I’m just doing my job” has different connotations depending on whether you are an American or an Iraqi is questioned. Also the issue of what would you do to feed your family if your country was turned upside down by a foreign power is raised. The story is passable and there are moments of tension, but ultimately the film is just Ryan Reynolds in a box.