Buried (2010)

Taking the idea of minimalism in film about as far as it can go, Buried is a taut thriller based solely on the premise of a single actor in a single location for its entire running time. It is an ambitious undertaking, and if anything is surprising it is that the film actually, for the most part, makes this work. What it does mean though is that the film never really justifies its limitations, so whilst I appreciated the craft it qualifies more as an notable experiment than a real success.
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Ryan Reynolds plays Paul Conroy, a contractor stationed in Iraq who wakes up to find himself buried alive in a coffin. He quickly finds a mobile phone and a couple of lights, but no obvious way of escape. Soon he is contacted by his kidnappers, and the US team of investigators working to locate him, and so begins a race against time for him to be located before he runs out of air, or the coffin itself collapses in on itself. In between screenwriter Chris Sparling manages to find many ways to spread out the tension from this bare setup, be it demands from the kidnappers, the intrusion from an unfriendly snake or just Reynolds' character coming to terms with his life and situation. Here director Rodrigo Cortés must be given credit and he keeps the film visually interesting at least for its running time. From claustrophobic close ups to some cleverly positioned perspective shots and a nice use of colour (dependent on the light source and used inventively to reflect mood) he doesn't make the film feel as restrictive as it really should.
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There have, of course, been similar single location films made before, recently Joel Schumacher's Phonebooth which used the concept well, and Danny Boyle's 127 Hours. Where Buried falls down in relation to these films is creating a memorable enough setup and purpose. Because we never leave the coffin we have no experience of Paul outside of this setting, and so the stakes are always hard to convey. It's a bold choice to start right from the moment Paul wakes up, but one I'm not convinced pays off as intended. Not that this is the fault of Ryan Reynolds who impresses, he is given a lot to do with a very restrictive situation, and with only voices to play off against, he is one of the reasons the film works as well as it does and whilst his character by design is not particularly notable he makes the emotional moments hit and few actors would be able to carry an entire film like this.
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The decision also to keep the film grounded and quite harsh makes it on the one hand uncomfortable, I myself am no fan of tight enclosed spaces and it definitely affected me, but it also makes the film quite a tough watch. There isn't much in the way of release, again by limiting the films view, and not indulging in any flashback / fantasy sequences it leaves it all a bit one-note.
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Ultimately Buried is a film that impresses in a way by simply existing. It is bold and different, but ultimately I feel the self-imposed restrictions of the premise hold it back. The basic idea and way that things plan out aren't really strong enough to be supported by the limited aesthetic choices and as such it is a film that feels like it is being held back. It has a great central performance, and some effectively tense and nerve-wracking moments, but overall it still feels like an interesting oddity, rather than a genuinely good film.