Buried

Whenever a filmmaker compares their new movie to anything Alfred Hitchcock ever did, the temptation to stab them to death in the shower, drop them from the top of a tower or strangle them and serve afternoon tea on their coffin is almost overwhelming. The most recent perp was James Mangold, whose Knight And Day was (despite his claims) about as similar to North By Northwest as chalk and shit.

So when Spanish director Rodrigo Cortés repeatedly pushed the Hitchiness of his high-concept Claustrocore thriller Buried, I started sharpening the knives and fetching lengths of rope out of the garage. Then came the first poster and trailer, which were intriguing, then another poster and trailer, both inspired by Hitchcock collaborator Saul Bass, which were ace, and before I knew it I wanted to see Buried ASAFP. So I did.

Let's be clear about something: this film is 95 minutes of Ryan Rodney Reynolds in a box. That's it. Let's be clear about something else: this is the best film I've seen this year. From its amazing opening titles to its final shot, Buried is an astounding technical accomplishment and a terrific work of suspense cinema. So while Ryan is squirming in his grave, Alfred can officially stop turning in his.

At no point in this film do you get bored of being stuck in a box with Ryan Rodney Reynolds, but at the same time you're screaming to be let out. Cortés uses every trick in the Desperate Director's Handbook to keep us hooked, and he does it exactly how Hitch did: with skilful sound design, creative lighting, ingenious camerawork and inventive editing. It's a masterclass in old-school filmmaking.

There are other actors in Buried, though they're (mostly) relegated to voices on the other end of the phone, but it's Triple R who carries the film with a career-best performance that you can't imagine many other actors pulling off. If it was Day-Lewis or De Niro in there they'd be bellowing their lungs off until you prayed for the air to run out.

Like everything, it's not perfect - the score, while tremendous, sounds like the guy in the next coffin is watching Lost, and Robert Paterson, the actor who spends the most time on the blower with RRR, is so wooden he could have been cast as the coffin.

Nevertheless, Buried leaps to No.1 in The Incredible Suit's Top 5 of 2010, which I promise I'll publish as soon as Clash Of The Titans drops out of it and I won't get lynched. Meanwhile, here's the obligatory over-zealous warning from the IMDb Parents' Guide:

Hardcore.

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