I just caught up with this one last night. It’s a killer little indie flick starring Ryan Reynolds as a civilian contractor in Iraq (just a truck driver, nor a mercenary or anything) who, after an ambush, wakes up buried alive in a coffin by Iraqi insurgents who tell him (via cell phone) that they’re holding him for ransom.
The entire movie takes place inside the coffin. Ryan Reynolds is the only character seen on screen, and we never see anything outside the coffin. I highly reccomend this. I don’t want to spoil anything because part of what makes the movie work is the confusion amd complete lack of any idea where it could be going. The movie does an extraordinarily good job of keeping the audience interested with an extremely limited visual range (there is no cheating with flashbacks or anything. All you see is the inside of the coffin). There is a political element to it, which I won’t spoil, and some exquisitely frustrating material dealing with government and corporate bureaucrats (there is one scene in particular which will make you want to track down a motherfucker and strangle him. I won’t say what it is. You’ll know it when you see it). It’s claustrophobic and tense (you really feel like your in that coffin yourself for an hours and a half), and I’m finding that it’s really staying with me. I have to say that one of the best things about it is he performance of Ryan Reynolds, who has a hell of a difficult job here, being the only character scene and not having a lot of mobility, but he sells it completely. You are 100% sympathetic to the guy. suffer with him, rage with him and desperately want him to be saved.
This is a movie likely to be overlooked, but if you get a chance to see it, it;s really worthwhile, and it’s a nomonation-worthy performance from reynolds (though it’s unlikely he’ll get one). It’s the kind of movie you keep thinking about for days after you’ve seen it.
Has anyone else seen it, and what did you think?
As a claustrophobe, I don’t think I will be seeing that movie. I heard interviews with Ryan Reynolds saying that he got claustrophobia shooting the movie.
I’m probably one of the 5 people who saw it in the theater. It only played for a week. Maybe two, but I know it left very quickly. I agree with everything you say in your excellent post. Terrific film, tense and tight, and Ryan Reynolds is a revelation.
And yes, I know exactly what scene you’re talking about and feel the same way.
I think I could only really rate the movie highly based on an appreciation for what they were doing. They get credit for making something relatively enjoyable, while keeping to the conceit of 100% in the coffin.
But it still wasn’t as good as it could have been. The politics veered into overly-preachy territory, which pulled you out of the movie by being too obviously scripted. And then Reynolds’ acting ability just wasn’t quite enough to really lead a movie.
Fixing the two issues, they could have had a genuinely impressive film. As was, though, it just fell short.
I would recommend the film, Phone Booth.
First of all, how long ago was this movie actually made? The previews on the DVD were for movies that were all like 3 years old.
As for the movie itself, it was decent, considering the material. I know what scene Dio is talking about that will make you want to strangle the dude, but I just thought it was so unrealistic I kinda rolled my eyes. I mean, that wouldn’t actually happen, right? Right? The reason I say that is because…
…the conversation is recorded. Is that company really going to pull out a recording they made while the dude was trapped in a coffin calling everyone he knew for help when they have to defend themselves? That would make them look so bad, they may as well just pay off the life insurance or whatever.
I don’t have a cite but my understanding is that this is based on an actual kidnapping/burial event that happened to an American in the Mideast. I’m intrigued and will have to do some checking around.
Editing to say - Nevermind. I was wrong
:bumping:
Just saw it with my wife.
Wow…that was disturbing. I’m disturbed…deeply. It was very tense, very very tense. And shocking.
Wow.
Sneak brag. I caught it at Sundance last year, and I thought it was pretty great. I’m not super familiar with Ryan Reynolds (I heard he was some sort of heart throb), but I thought his performance was very good. I really loved the idea from merely a production cost perspective. One dude, in a box!
I normally like this sort of film and was interested enough to watch it in the theater but thought it fell short. It became tedious very quickly.