Buried is the newest film by Rodrigo Cortés, starring Ryan Reynolds.

Plot:
Paul (Ryan Reynolds) is an American contractor and truck driver in Iraq. After his convoy is attacked, he finds himself buried alive in a coffin somewhere. With him in the coffin are a lighter and a cell phone. Frantically Paul tries to reach someone to figure out what’s going on.

Buried is intense. It is surprising how much suspense you can get out of this minimalistic setting, but Cortés gets every last drop – and he uses it well.

I keep forgetting that Ryan Reynolds has actual talent and not only “talent“. But Buried relies completely on him – and Reynolds pulls it off. He might not be the most subtle of actors, but subtlety would have been misplaced in this film anyway.

Cortés is a talented director and he uses the setting brilliantly. Though there were a few shots I could have done without [Blairwitch Project-like close-ups, mostly], he manages to convey the claustrophobia and the tension convincingly. He also uses black screen with only sounds very much to his advantage.

The script by Chris Sparling has a few weaknesses, a few moments where I wanted to hit Paul upside the head. [SPOILER] So, you figure out the number of the phone you’re using and you don’t tell the guy who is working on finding you? I mean, I get that he would call his wife first, but to not tell the other guy at all when he told you before that they could probably find him with that number? [/SPOILER] Maybe I’m being too harsh. The situation is, of course, stressful and people are bound to not react entirely logical, but still. I also didn’t get why Paul would have to write down all the numbers from the cell phone – couldn’t he have just hit the dial button?

But other than that, it was very believable. Though it was good that the movie wasn’t longer than it was. I think that that wouldn’t have worked.

Summarising: Watch it, unless you’re claustrophobic. Unfortunately, I shared the screen with a couple of idiots who kept on talking and giggling and annoying the hell out of me. You might want to avoid that.