10. Buried (2010)
The idea is simple: one man, buried beneath the ground in a coffin. Turning that into a movie that runs at feature length without boring the pants off of your audience well, that's a different matter entirely. In TV, episodes set in one location that mostly deal with character interactions are nicknamed "bottle episodes."
Buried, as directed by Rodrigo Cortés
, is a bottle episode twist on the feature film, and then some. Our protagonist, flat on his back, isn't even given room to breathe properly.
Buried stars Ryan Reynolds and only Ryan Reynolds. The movie begins and ends inside a coffin. He communicates with people via his mobile telephone. This should have been a disaster, but somehow it works, mainly due to the movie's frequent attempts to give Paul - who has been buried by terrorists who will only disclose his location for a hefty price - the toughest time below ground as humanly possible. Low-cost movie making at its finest, it's Reynolds who ensures this movie flies - he's totally (and rightly) without ego.