Buried: You Took My Breath Away

4 out of 5 Popcorn Kernals

See Trailer Here

Darkness.

That is what we start off with in this film by Rodrigo Cortes. This is what we are left with when this movie is over and the lights come on. This is what I was left with hours later, after seeing this very inventive, very clever film, doing something that seemed simple, but made it thrilling.

When the film begins, we are introduced to darkness on the screen, and many in the audience began calling the projectionist, thinking something was wrong. But we soon hear shuffling, hands scraping, a cough, frantic movement, and flick-flick-a flame appears from a lighter, and we notice man's face, mouth gagged, sweat and dirt cover him, and soon, we are informed that this is Paul Conroy, a truck-driver in Iraq, who has suddenly found himself trapped in a wooden coffin, buried alive.

Hoping For A Brighter Day

Paul Conroy is played by Ryan Reynolds, and he pours on the acting chops for a film that focus' mainly on him and that wooden tomb for most of the movie. He soon has some tools at his disposal: a cell phone, left by the people who put him in there so that he can negotiate the terms of his release with others he may know, the lighter, a pen, a canteen of alcohol, a few glow sticks, a flashlight, and a knife. All very simple objects that can be used for him to maintain his sanity and to some aspects his life. The other tools are the actors, which he contacts via the cell phone, and although we never quite see them, we can feel the anxiety, the hope, the lax, the anger in their voices, and gain a little more insight on how Paul arrived there, what his life was like back home, and who he is as a person; while he calls person after person on a cell phone that has only so much battery life.

Paul too has only so much time, as he sucks up the oxygen in a coffin that is large r than most, but still very closed in. The audience will feel that effect too, and as Paul's air runs out, I too found myself gasping with tension. And what tension there is. I can understand why Rodrigo references Hitchock. With camera angles and movement, close-ups and pull-backs, he creates a mood and feel of desperation. And the dangers! Paul is surrounded by the elements: the canteen of liquid, the dirt surrounding him, the flame of the lighter, the air he breaths. Each element can save his life, but each element is a danger to each other, and the way this is exibited is astonishing.

The final moments of this film will have you leaving the theatre still reeling on what you have just seen, and wondering how it was all done. This will be a film many colleges will dissect, from the acting to the directing, it rises above your expectations...while leaving others buried in your subconscience.