Thinking inside the box
Posted on: Sunday, March 20th, 2011
Comments: 7
Thriller directors are compared favorably to Hitchcock as frequently and erroneously as exotic meats are proclaimed to taste like chicken. However, anyone who delights in either repast, culinary or cinematic, can tell you that rabbit is nothing like bird nor NIGHT OF THE LEPUS
equal to THE BIRDS
. That said, exceptions exist and Rodrigo Cortes earns his linkage to Sir Alfred with his claustrophobic feature, BURIED
, the best film of 2010 to receive absolutely no award attention. Ask me, and it should have taken INCEPTION
‘s place as a Best Picture nomination. The movie was shot for a fraction of the budget with a fraction of the exposition, yet ten times more suspense and, frankly, far more substantial, provocative content in the (shared) guise of commercial entertainment.
Starring Ryan Reynolds, in a role that has convinced me, finally, that he is actually an actor not just a ridiculously buff goofball with dramatic ambitions, BURIED offers pointed critiques of American foreign policy and, more damningly, American corporate practices… though audiences can easily overlook these jabs by simply remaining spooked, an easy feat given Cortes’ direction that keeps us within the confines of both a coffin and real time. How and why our nominal hero finds himself trapped is slowly revealed thanks to Chris Sparling‘s tight script and Cortes’ innovative camera-work that, seemingly, never repeats itself and always offers new angles on the developing crisis. Additionally and wisely, the director served as his own editor, revealing how cleanly and calculatedly he must have plotted the shoot. Rodrigo Cortes’ work, completed under limited budget and over just seventeen production days, reveals an immense talent, a filmmaker with an intellectually rigorous approach to inherently visceral storytelling that is the hallmark of, yes, Hitchcock. BURIED is the PSYCHO
of the Gulf War generation.
As founder of The Warren Report, Warren Etheredge hosts over 250 events every year,
a podcast and television series. The Warren Report promotes "slow culture" through commentary, outreach,
events and education. Our principle: Smarter audiences make a better world!
Thriller directors are compared favorably to Hitchcock as frequently and erroneously as exotic meats are proclaimed to taste like chicken. However, anyone who delights in either repast, culinary or cinematic, can tell you that rabbit is nothing like bird nor NIGHT OF THE LEPUS
March 21st, 2011 at 11:51 am
You (Warren) leave me speechless at times – and yes this be on of those times -
March 21st, 2011 at 11:52 am
dang “E” key got stuck — YES THIS BE ONE OF THOSE TIMES
March 21st, 2011 at 5:41 pm
Speechless in a good way, TC?
March 27th, 2011 at 1:56 am
In a good way yes your comments on Reynolds and his willingness to elevate his game while not limiting your thoughts to what is in front of the camera but what is also going on behind the camera as well as in the editing room.
Giving Buried Hitchcockian status is what has truly left me speechless; it is not about agreement or disagreement, it is simply awe at your insight
March 27th, 2011 at 9:25 pm
Here here! Such a damn good, chilling, suffocation of a film experience. Totally agree, Inception paled by award standards, but then, so did The Black Swan. Oy. Natalie Portman’s voice alone should preclude her from any Oscar nomination (let alone win) EVER.
April 27th, 2011 at 9:24 am
My first thought after seeing this was that Alfred Hitchcock must be rolling over in his coffin hearing the comparisons. Ryan Reynolds did a good job with the limited material he had to work with but there were plot holes galore that really dragged the film down.
It’s shot pretty well at times but there’s some shots that are cleary just for show and not plausible in the confines of a coffin. The 1st real frightening moment didn’t come until an hour in and by that time I had already tuned out. I liked the sound effects and the comic relief but I couldn’t even hear the “terrorist(s)” over the cell phone. The ending was not only a bummer but I thought it was pretty corny as well.
Not much of it made any sense to me. It’s just him stuck in a coffin making a bunch of phone calls and leaving a ton of messages because hardly anyone answers. The few conversations he does have don’t really go anywhere or lead to anything significant. He writes down a lot of numbers and names as if they’d have some meaning later on but they never do. The only real highlight for me was when the snake appeared.
The “Saw” like scene tacked on towards the end feels like it was thrown in at the last minute to make up for the hour & fifteen minutes of boredom that preceded.
I love low budget films like Following and Primer but this wasn’t on either of those levels. Let alone Inception. I’d be interested to see another Rodrigo Cortés film in the future. Can’t say the same for Chris Sparling’s screenplay.
April 27th, 2011 at 4:57 pm
Well, Wes, that’s the beauty of opinions. We are all entitled to our own. Obviously, neither is right or wrong. What fascinates me is how the things you disliked, I enjoyed. The elements you liked, I did not. For instance, to me the segment with the snake was the one cheesy moment. Conversely, I thought the phone calls were brilliant, even satirical. The conversation with his “former” employer is brilliant, riveting in the awfulness of its likelihood. Ryan reynolds is in crisis and no one’s home, as it were. Rodrigo’s shots do break the physical laws of a box, but created a tense, emotional understanding of confinement, such as the long camera pullback upwards suggesting the great depths to which our lead has sunk, if you will. As for the ending, corny? I thought it was great, unexpected and yet totally earned.
Sorry we didn’t appreciate BURIED the same way and thrilled you shared your own unique perspective on it. Thanks, w