Mini Movie Review - Buried - Watch a Guy Named Paul Try to Escape from a Box

How does this sound for a movie? A guy named Paul, working as a contractor in Iraq, is kidnapped by a bunch of terrorists and is buried alive. The entire, and I mean entire movie, is about this guy named Paul trying to escape from a box buried underground. When I first read about this movie, I assumed that the majority of the movie would focus on the box, with flashbacks and other scenes. Man was I wrong, the entire movie just has one scene and one actor. Join me for this mini review on Buried starring Ryan Reynolds, and see why this movie may or may not be worth your time.

I want to keep this short, and I don't want to ruin the story for anyone. The story is already as simple as it gets. This guy Paul, played by Ryan Reynolds, gets kidnapped and is trapped in a box buried underground in the middle of Iraq. The only items he has to aide him in his escape is a cellphone and a lighter. While Ryan Reynolds is not technically the only actor in the movie, there are voice actors who we hear over the phone, he is the only one who we actually get to see.

I have to say that the concept alone should be enough to make most people want to check out this movie.  I still cannot believe that I sat through an entire movie that focuses solely on a guy trapped in a box.  One thing that I thought could have been cool was if they shot the whole movie in one continuous clip.  I know it would have been a pain in the ass to do, but even if it just looked like one long clip it would have been cool.

It's interesting how many times they cut the camera and change the angle, meanwhile the whole thing is being filmed inside of a box in which the guy can barely fit in.  Buried at its heart is a psychological thriller.  It wasn't scary like a horror movie, but it puts the audience in a situation that would be extremely frightening to most people; being buried alive.  Especially at the beginning of the film Ryan Reynolds does a great job of portraying a man who is trapped in a tight space knowing that his end is near.  Reynolds played a great part in this "one man show."  Surprisingly, though the selection of scenes was limited to one albeit tight space, the plot had enough meat on the bones to actually make Buried a decent movie.

With an extremely unique storyline and extremely limited scene selection Buried is on my list of must see movies.  After seeing the entire film and knowing how the story ends I can't say I would want to watch the movie anytime soon.  That doesn't mean that it wasn't worth watching, it's just not a movie you can watch over and over again.  Lastly I just want to mention that if the movie had ended differently it could have been a much better movie.  Again I am not saying the movie was bad, just that it had the potential to be great.  You'll know what I mean after you watch it.  But I highly recommend this movie to anyone who is searching for a unique thriller or anyone who thinks Ryan Reynolds is hot.  So check it out.