You wake up completely disoriented. It's dark. It's hot. You suddenly realize you are confined to a very small space. You don't know where you are or how you got there. What do you do? This is Ryan Reynolds dilemma in his latest movie "Buried." The premise of the movie is that simple and that powerful. Most viewers went into this movie knowing nothing more than this and that's the way it should be.
As the film progresses you find out the details of how Reynolds gets in his current predicament. The film is shot all in one location, the box. Ryan Reynolds does an amazing job of truly capturing the emotion of a man seemingly helpless. It takes a very strong actor to carry himself throughout a feature with no real supporting cast. Buried has been compared to movies like Castaway and Phone Booth which were for the most part shot in a single location with focus on one leading man. Tom Hanks and Colin Ferrell had amazing performances but where Reynolds performance differs is he is the only person physically seen on the silver screen. Hanks had a tropical island and Ferrell had New York
Reynolds is an actor who started out mostly with comedic roles. In recent years he has been mixing it up with some rather serious roles. In 2005 he starred in the 1979 remake of The Amityville Horror which was definitely a serious role for Reynolds but was just another subpar horror remake. Reynolds steps out of his comfort zone with this part and deserves at least an Oscar nod for his performance. Reynolds showcases true acting at its best in Buried. Through his facial expressions in low lighting, raw emotion and frustration he makes you feel empathy for this man who at first can’t even fathom how something like this could happen to him. Reynolds has said it was a challenging role for him because he believes everyone has some form of claustrophobia. The sound crew would hear Reynolds have small panic attacks through the microphone in his chest. The entire movie was filmed in seventeen days and it took quite a toll on Reynolds body. He didn’t think it would be such a physical role when he first signed up to do the project. Reynolds has said he slept very little while shooting this movie. Reynolds said he used the pain and discomfort and credits his adrenaline for getting him through.
The director Rodrigo Cortes does a brilliant job using long shots to give the audience an atypical view of someone being trapped in the box. These shots give the illusion of more space but they still don’t comfort you. Cortes also uses very theatrical vivid lighting in these shots to set mood. You feel as if you trapped in a long, narrow, endless tunnel. You don’t have to be claustrophobic to feel the anger, frustration, fear, regret, and sorrow Reynolds character displays. Buried is a thrilling experience that will leave you having to crack a window.
