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Paul, a U.S. contractor working in Iraq, wakes up in a coffin after being ambushed by soldiers, with only a lighter and a cell phone.
*SPOILERS*
Will he get out in time?
Buried falls into a very rare breed of the horror/thriller genre: being buried alive. While that sounds very limited, it does very well for what room it does have. Slashers occasionally scare the crap out of me, as well as mockumentaries etc and etc, but the one thing thing that scares me more than anything in this whole entire world, while it may not be a very realistic fear, is being trapped underground with absolutely no room to move whatsoever, whether it be in a coffin, or whatever the heck. Anyway, it is probably most human being's worst fear (or should be).
The director at the helm is Rodrigo Cortes. I believe this is his first American made feature length film. He decided to take on quite an intense subject, which was obviously bound to put some fear into quite a good amount of the viewers. The one thing he did so good in this film was make the situation so believable, that it's almost like your watching a homemade tape of one man's attempt to survive such a terrifying event. The music is also very limited, with the occasional heart-wrenching beat that really makes it a pretty scary experience. In my opinion, the soundtrack was excellent. Nowadays, films seem so cliche ridden that you might as well just watch the same thriller again and again. However, with Cortes' Buried you can pretty much send all the annoying cliches out the window. Each scene has a purpose, and is all building up to a very horrifying climax. The point being, for movie-goers that are sick of the same old bull-shit, you are in for a nice refreshing experience filled with, frankly, quite a few new and exciting elements.
Having said that, Buried isn't all enjoyable. In fact, there are few pretty annoying aspects. For example, Most of the people he (Ryan Reynolds) contacts, are not very helpful. They seem not to understand where he's coming from, and are just flat out ignorant. I believe he should have, and could have been given a lot more assistance. Another thing is the story, which is a tad ridiculous if you ask me. I mean, how in the hell is a man trapped many feet underground, not to mention in a coffin, supposed to get a shit ton of money somehow transferred to his kidnapper? I don't know, it just seemed a little over the top for my liking. However. It is good for entertainment value though. Not all things in film have to be realistic, right?
The one and final thing I have to say about this film is about the ending. After all the work and energy Paul puts into escaping. All the calls, the attempts to break free, and so forth, he ends up getting screwed, totally screwed. I won't say Exactly what happens, but it's one of the most depressing endings, if not the most, in my movie watching career. That, right there almost completely ruined the film for me. you, as a viewer, keep getting these signs of hope that maybe, just maybe Paul can get out alive, and from my perspective, that qualifies as a big disappointment.
If not for the claustrophobic eeriness, great acting from Reynolds, and the intense sequences of helplessness and fear, this movie wouldn't really be worthy of a watch.
6.5/10
