Anyone who has ever seen Phone Booth will understand that a film about a man in a box can only last so long. Director Rodrigo Cortés’ claustrophobic thriller, Buried, takes this idea and confines it further. The end result is fleeting moments of suspenseful brilliance, sadly lost in 90 minutes of slow action.
The cinema sits in darkness, hearing nothing but increasingly panicked breathing. Truck driver Paul Conroy, played by Ryan Reynolds, awakens to find himself buried in a coffin with only a mobile phone and a lighter. A race against both time and battery life ensues as he tries desperately to get rescued from a situation that will leave you with the curious urge to stretch your legs.
Reynolds’ performance is, at times, darkly comic. At one point we are treated to what must be the most frustrated portrayal of being put on hold, while more tender parts of the plot are handled convincingly with a gruff but emotional quality. Combine this with Buried’s shudder-at-the-thought concept, and the tension can really draw you in.
Nevertheless, the real tragedy of this film is that the tiny cast and crew really did have their work cut out for them. Just how do you hold an audience’s attention for so long with only one man? Often I found my mind wandering, waiting for the next bout of action and thinking, ‘does this guy ever need to go for a pee?’.
Buried is a valiant effort at breaking blockbuster convention, but sometimes you need to think outside the box.
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