Buried (2010)

While I am sure that Buried looked as good as the other one-man-show Moon on paper, the execution on film (especially the big screen) was not great. I am not sure if it’s the fault of the actor Ryan Reynolds, or the strange pacing on the suspect script that killed it but by the time 10 minutes had passed I was dreading the length of time it would take to be over. Buried was absolutely awful, and not because it was boring but because it was silly.

Plot summary: Buried places us within the coffin of an American truck driver named Paul Conroy (Ryan Reynolds) who was working for a company stationed in Iraq when his entourage was slaughtered by terrorists and he was left alive in a coffin. His only possessions are a cellular phone, some flares, a lighter and a busted flashlight. The point of the movie is that the terrorists want 5 million dollars, or as they put it “5 million money!” in order to let the man out. His only means of communication is through this cellular phone which I swear has the best coverage of any cellular that I have ever seen.

Why I Disliked Buried:

The beginning of Buried shows me that film makers are not in touch with the venues that show their movies. The first 5 minutes are a black screen with the sounds of someone breathing hard (almost sexual sounding) and a struggling sound which you find out later is the poor bastard coming to terms with his surroundings. For theater visitors that 5 minutes is enough dead time for people to make obnoxious noises, kids to feign boredom and douche bags to exclaim loudly “what the f-ck!” Bad idea all the way – and to add insult to injury it did nothing for the immersion into the man’s plight.

Nothing against Ryan Reynold’s acting ability but Uma Thurman’s stint in the coffin in Kill Bill 2 was more believable than an hour and a half of Reynolds screaming obscenities into a cellular phone. Uma doing the one inch punch through the coffin and climbing to her safety was a lot more interesting than seeing Reynolds struggle to understand a man using broken English and yelling “5 million money!” every 10 minutes or so. Why did this get green lit to Box Office?

Buried was a huge waste of time, so even the “surprise” ending was a bit wasted on the audience that had lost interest about 15 minutes in. One girl summed it up with her exasperated “Okay!?” as the black screen led to credits at the end and I was very annoyed at the time spent watching it. Mr. Cortes should take a page from the book of the writer/director of Moon on how to cast and write a one man show for a Box Office release. Ryan Reynolds may be a good Dead Pool (still to be seen) but a terrorist victim not-so-much!