It's a daring experiment. Unfortunately, I've seen the results, and they're disappointing.
Reynolds plays Paul Conroy, a truck driver working as a contractor in Iraq. He's been taken hostage and buried alive by his captors, who demand "5 million dollars money." At his disposal are a cell phone, a lighter, and a few other items--but naturally, nothing that can get him out of the box. Conroy frantically tries to make phone calls for help while fending off threats that include a snake and sand seeping into the box.
Director Rodrigo Cortes manages to make the movie visually exciting despite the claustrophobic setting. In fact, sometimes he cuts the camera so quickly that it can be hard to tell what's going on.
The bigger problem, though, is that it rarely feels like Paul's captors are the ones in charge. Instead, we're made acutely aware that he's at the mercy of the filmmakers. They throw in far too many convenient twists and turns to amp up the excitement. Just one example: Paul is unable to contact his wife until near the end of the film because, naturally, she left her cell phone at home.
"Buried" also addresses the political subtext of the plot, but in a completely uninteresting way. The main message seems to be, "Boy, we sure screwed up in Iraq, huh?"
It's a shame for Reynolds, who gives an impressive performance. Getting 90 minutes of nearly uninterrupted screen time would be a dream for most actors, but it requires immense energy. Reynolds has to swing quickly from anger to sadness to excitement, and he does it with aplomb.
He has to be even more nimble as the film hurtles towards its finale and the twists come even faster. "Buried" reaches a point where any conclusion would feel arbitrary. It ends just like this.
No comments:
Post a Comment