Buried - film review

Buried

Film Review

Having seen a film shot mainly in a lift last week where does one go next? To see a film shot exclusively in a coffin - what else!

This was another Jeff selection and a strange one at that. The plot line is very simple:

A ccontractor in Iraq is kidnapped and buried in a shallow grave, along with a mobile phone, a torch and a Zippo lighter. After the initial terrors or being buried alive his kidnapper calls him and starts making demands - and he starts reaching out with a dwindling battery and an intermittent signal. Can he be found before his air runs out?

The tale unfolds in the close confines of the  coffin with just one actor and a series of disembodied voices on the end of the phone.  The script writers must have had a brainstorm session about all the horrid things which could be encountered in a coffin and then woven them into a plot.

Did it work? No, not really. I was conscious of the passage of time and after I got over my natural phobia of confined places I found myself willing the end to come, and I wasn't too concerned which way it went.

There was dark humour when his HR manager called and, having gained his agreement to record the call, proceeded to confirm all the clauses of his contract  and then sacked him retrospectively to obviate his firm from liability.

Sure there was a passable twist in the tail but overall I wouldn't rate this film. The limited scope of the film was novel, but by no means compelling.

Not a film I would reccommend, not even for a slow night on the telly.