Ryan Reynolds Gets “Buried”

You won’t get to see many of these types of shots in “Buried.”

Many actors become stars by appearing as a certain type that audiences fall in love with and want to see over and over. However, actors often become bored playing that type, and want to show that they can do something different. Preferably something different that will win them an Oscar, or bump their paychecks up a grade.

Ryan Reynolds is the latest to take the, “Hey, I’m more than a good-looking light-comedy/action guy!” leap. Variety reports that he plans to star in “Buried,” a grim drama in which the title pretty much tells the whole story. Reynolds will play a civilian contractor who travels to Iraq for a job, is kidnapped, and wakes up in a coffin buried in the desert with only a cell phone, a candle, and a knife to keep him company. (Does he get a match or lighter for the candle? Does he need that? Wouldn’t the cellphone provide as much light as a candle? Sure, that would use up battery on the cell phone, but if he is lighting a candle to try to work on something to make his escape, isn’t he just going to knock over the candle or accidentally blow it out? I’m not sure of the utility of the candle. Unless the wax comes into play somewhere.).

See, the idea for Reynolds is that in a confined space like that, he’ll get to show off his dramatic skills as he does things like make phone calls to his character’s wife/girlfriend (gosh, hopefully not both!), parents, co-workers, etc. It’s like he’s saying, “You won’t see my rock hard abs because I won’t have room to take off my shirt, so you’ll have to concentrate on my ACTING!!” He’s got a point. Said rock hard abs can be pretty distracting. But I hope he realizes he’s going to lose the claustrophobics in his fan base.

Rodrigo Cortes is directing Chris Sparling’s script. Shooting is supposed to begin in Barcelona this month.