Buried

Alright, to tell the truth I was very excited to review ‘Buried’ (aka Ryan Reynolds in a box) because it received mixed reviews from everyone who watched it. So I knew this would be my opportunity to settle the argument once and for all, since my opinion is he only one that matters after all. At first I was worried, because when the movie was over I realized that I had mixed feeling towards it. Then I had a revelation. I figured the people who came away from it saying they liked it fell for a few tricks that this movie uses. So my infallible review of this move is... ‘Buried’ kind of sucks.

When Paul Conroy wakes up in a wooden box, he quickly realizes that he is buried underground and proceeds to spend the next ten minutes having a nervous breakdown. Finally he discovers a cell phone, left in the box for him by his captors, and of course tries to call for help. This is where we begin to learn who he is. Paul Conroy is a truck driver, working in Iraq in 2006. His convoy was ambushed and he has been taken captive by insurgents. With the phone, he attempts to reach help, call home, and eventually hears from his captors. After Paul manages to get in touch with the people who will try to rescue him, but he realizes that the chances of rescue are slim. The story is a race against time, but all the audience gets to see is Paul, wondering if help will come in time or if help even cares about him at all.

Now this is a great set-up for a great movie. And Reynold's does a great job playing the part. However the editing is sloppy, some of the conversations over the phone are improbable, and in several points the movie actually tricks you into liking it. At one point, Paul asks how does someone he hasn’t talked to before know his name... Seconds later the woman on the other end of the phone says someone else gave her his name, and the topic was never brought up again. But for a brief second the audience believes there is more going on, and it the feeling sticks until you realize that this movie is just straight forward. At the end, the audience finds out that in fact one of the characters was being untruthful. This is done in a manner that I think was supposed to be a shock, but to me it was just an aggravating attempt to give the audience something to talk about when it was all over.

I feel if this movie was about a guy kidnapped in America, by Americans then no one would come away from it saying they enjoyed it. It plays on the way people feel about our occupation of Iraq, and the stories that have come out of people being taken. Sure Ryan Reynolds really sold us on being stuck underground, but this movie as a whole is fair at best. If you told me you wanted to watch it, I would say as interesting as a movie that takes place entirely in a box sounds... Its kind of boring. I started caring less and less about whether or not Paul would get out of the box, and more concerned with whether or not this story will gain any depth. And I was sadly disappointed.