Review of Buried (2010) by Dane P — 30 Dec 2012

It's hard to envision a film entirely taking place in a box, but 'Buried' does just that. Without question, the fact that director Rodrigo Cortes took a gamble on overseeing a movie that features this concept is remarkable.

That said, however, 'Buried' falls short on a number of points. While there really aren't any plot holes in the traditional sense, there are plenty of things that happen over the course of the film that really should not have, from a BlackBerry that gets a decent signal while under a confined box in the sands of the Iraqi desert to a corporate personnel director's strictly business conversation while Ryan Reynolds' captured truck driving character suffers a slow death.

In fact, the film is extremely depressing, and there are few - if any - redeeming qualities about Reynolds' character, although he does well from an acting perspective. At the same time, 'Buried' would have been even less entertaining had there not been these distractions to give the audience something to pay attention to besides Reynolds' incessant screaming and angry outbursts.

Again, while 'Buried' is a uniquely filmed and premised movie, it is an overall disappointment and is more boring than it is thrilling.