Buried

BURIED (2010) - Oct. 12, 2010
A really well made, intense film about a driver in Iraq who, after his convoy is abushed, wakes up inside a coffin.  With only a lighter and a cell phone at his disposal, he has to try to figure out how to get out, with the clock working against him.  The film is almost absurdly riveting, considering that it's set entirely within the confines of a wooden box, and Rodrigo Cortes' assured direction makes a seemingly uncinematic premise abundantly so.  Of course, aside from the filmmaking, the movie rests almost entirely on Ryan Reynolds' shoulders, and he more than rises to the occassion, giving what is almost certainly his best performance.  If the Academy didn't have such a bias against genre films, he'd almost certainly be a shoe-in for a nomination.  Good stuff.  ****