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The final moments of BURIED are among the most devastating I've witnessed in any film this year. You may be turned off by the film's premise if you discover that the movie spends an entire 90 minutes focusing on one character who's stuck inside a coffin (no flashbacks or other cinematic shenanigans to give us any reprieve from the claustrophobia). But the film's approach pays off because once the extremely intense climax comes along, we're so involved in our lone lead character and concerned about what his fate will be, that the emotional thrust of the final few minutes is almost too much to take.
But that's not all due to the film's claustrophobic style. In fact, most of it is due to the greatness of Ryan Reynolds' fierce and uncompromising performance in which he expertly handles what may easily be one of the toughest roles an actor has faced this year. Here's what's ironic. BURIED had a limited release several months ago, and it wasn't till now that I was finally able to see it, and I just found out that a couple of days ago Reynolds was named "sexiest man of the year" by some magazine or whatever (I don't care much for celebrity gossip and whatnot, so my memory of stuff like that is pretty short-term). Contrary to what most people apparently think, I don't find Ryan Reynolds all that attractive, and ALSO, contrary to majority opinion, I was never a fan of the work he did at the start of his career (mostly crass, silly comedies). It wasn't till last year that I realized that he should've definitely started out in the genre of drama instead - he was impressive in his supporting role in the remarkably underrated ADVENTURELAND (which, again, contrary to what most people think, is NOT a comedy, and it's not meant to be one either). In BURIED, Reynolds not only reaffirms that he should focus his energy on meaty dramatic roles rather than dumb comedies, but he gives an award-worthy performance. If BURIED weren't such a small film, I could easily see him scoring nominations in at least a few precursors. So, my hope is that being named "sexiest man of the year" won't boost his ego so much that he'll avoid making very good small films like BURIED in which he gets the opportunity to shine so much. We'll see.
BURIED's plot unfolds through the conversations that Paul (Reynolds) has on a cell phone that he happens to have in the coffin in which he's buried somewhere in Baquba, Iraq. Apparently, he's not buried in THAT deep a place, which means he's able to get a phone signal. It's obvious that Paul is a perfectly decent guy. The fact that the film's main arrows of criticism are aimed at the evil/selfish nature of human beings has to do with the decisions made by the people on the other end of the phone line. The dialogue slowly reveals to us that the people speaking to Paul aren't all interested in helping him, but rather, most of them just care about saving their own skin. The film's most infuriating moment comes during the conversation with a lawyer who represents the company that Paul works for. But BURIED isn't all about anger and desperation. There's a particularly funny moment in which Paul behaves very nicely to this total bitch on the phone, just to get the information he needs, and as soon as he gets it, he quickly says "Fuck you!" and hangs up. Later on, there's a heart-breaking moment in which Paul listens to a recording of his daughter's voice. This is one of the many instances in which Reynolds gets to display his prowess, because he smiles during this moment, but the smile is still tinged with the sense of hopelessness that gradually increases throughout the film.
Yes, there are moments at which BURIED drags. Even if the film had only been an hour long, it's hard to find THAT much to do if your film literally takes place in such a confined location and with only ONE visible character. To try to remedy this, the film features a somewhat contrived and overblown moment involving the random appearance of a snake. But it's not too bad, and the film quickly moves back to its strength, which comes from the phone conversations that make us gradually fear more and more for Paul's survival.
The ending is nothing short of terrific, and with Reynolds' bravura work to anchor it, it makes for a truly devastating cinematic conclusion. The gradual pouring-in of sand while Paul runs out of time makes for an incredible amount of suspense. BURIED is one heck of a good thriller, and it benefits greatly from its sociopolitical commentary and from one of 2010's most incredible performances.
