The Best of Netflix Instant

Imagine waking up in an impossibly dark room.  It’s so dark that closing your eyes doesn’t change a thing; you might as well be blind.  Your hands are bound with rope.  Meanwhile, the throbbing in your head and the stifling heat make it difficult to remember what happened.  After struggling with your bonds you manage to ignite a lighter and discover that the room is actually a coffin buried underground. 

Before praising Buried, I want to clarify that the film’s entire 90-minute runtime takes place inside a coffin.  With the exception of one extremely brief moment, Ryan Reynolds (with a shirt on) is the only person you see.  I think it’s worth seeing but that might be a deal breaker for some.

From the Hitchcockian opening until the heart-attack inducing ending, Buried never takes the foot off the pedal.  Just when you think the “oh my god, I’m trapped in a coffin ” thing is getting stale, the film adds another element to the plot and further increases your blood pressure.  It’s difficult to explain how the film pulls this off but watch it and you will understand.

What surprised me the most about Buried is the size of the story.  Reynolds doesn’t exist in a vacuum.  The entire time you are aware of a bigger story unfolding outside, a story of the American occupation of Iraq, of heartless corporations, and of the search for a man buried in the desert.  Compare this to 127 Hours.  In both films the male protagonist is alone and trapped with no real prospect of help.  However, 127 Hours is very centered on James Franco and his personal conflicts while Reynolds in Buried is part of a bigger conflict.  Neither is inherently better but they represent two different and ultimately successful ways to approach a situation.

As much as I enjoyed the film I have two complaints.  Firstly, watching the film requires some suspension of disbelief because a few scenes didn’t seem possible.  At one point Ryan Reynolds fights off a snake with an alcohol-generated fire, keep in mind that he’s still inside a coffin.  My other big complaint is the occasional poor dialogue.  In response to a woman on the phone asking Reynolds what’s will happen if they don’t rescue him by 9pm he says, “He’ll take me to Sea World!”  It immediately reminded me of Ryan Reynolds’ much less impressive acting performances.

Despite its few shortcomings Buried is a fantastic film.  Together, director Rodrigo Cortes, a relatively unknown Spanish director, and Ryan Reynolds, a pretty boy who usually plays the exact same character, form an unlikely pair.  I never thought I’d say this but I spent an hour and a half in a box with Ryan Reynolds and I enjoyed every minute of it.

Check out a list of everything I have posted about in my Best of Netflix Instant Archive.