Buried, a mystery-thriller is an effectively scary drama about an American truck driver in Iraq who’s taken hostage. Paul Conroy is a civilian contractor in Iraq, whose convoy was attacked and the people were killed, while, he was taken as a hostage. When Conroy wakes up, he finds himself in the dark of a coffin, which is probably buried underground. In the stark dark of coffin all Conroy posses is a flask of whiskey, a lighter, a knife and a cell phone whose battery will fall with every call that he is going to make.
Conroy is not buried deep enough to have no signal at the cell phone. He uses cell phone to communicate with unseen people who have kept him as hostage, as well as, those who can help him with rescue. Paul is already on medication for stress but he must not panic as it will quickly decrease the already lowering level of oxygen.
Buried is a one-man show; a fantastic performance by Ryan Reynolds and it is certainly not an easy watch. The best thing about the cinematography of this film is that it never goes out of the coffin. There are no visual flashbacks to the attack on the convoy and no visual cuts to the people whom Conroy is calling. There are just the voices, Conroy and the setting is coffin throughout the movie. It is clearly one example of an expert filmmaking. If Rodrigo Cortés wanted to torment his audience in recherché manner then he has nailed it. There might be some logical loopholes in the film but it accomplishes its goal.
The story is at its best when Conroy is desperately trying to find the right bureaucrat off the list of American bureaucrats who can save his life, skipping from one call to another. Conroy finally connects with Brenner; a Special Forces agent who is assigned a task of finding kidnapped Americans in Iraq. Brenner asks Conroy to keep his spirits high and not to give in to the kidnapper’s threats. Conroy is forced to stay calm and maintain his trust in Brenner.
The film is about corporate America’s stolidity, to the human life in general and even to those who work day in and out to keep its system running.
Throughout the film Conroy lives through numerous emotions, from panic to anger and fear but he never backs out from the terrific performance for a second. Conroy’s anguished face is very gripping. The light sources change often to reflect Conroy’s different emotions and it blends in very well.
Claustrophobics are warned, and even those are not, will still feel the need to take a deep breath of fresh air to survive through the entire film.
Keywords: Buried, coffin, emotions, Conroy, America, kidnap.
