Paul Conroy

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Paul Conroy is the main protagonist of the 2010 psychological thriller film Buried. He is a Iraq-based American civilian truck driver, who is after being attacked, finds himself buried alive in a wooden coffin, with only a lighter, flask, flashlight, knife, glowsticks, pen, pencil, and a mobile phone and tries to make his rescue. 
He is portrayed by who also played Deadpool in the X-Men films, Hal Jordan in Green Lantern (2011), Hannibal King in Blade: Trinity, Nick Walker in R.I.P.D., Guy in Free Guy, Richard Messner in Smokin' Aces, Michael Bryce in The Hitman's Bodyguard, and voiced Guy in The Croods, Pikachu in Detective Pikachu and Theo in Turbo.
==Biography==
=== Background ===
According to Paul, Paul Conroy (a American army truck driver) and the several other convoys during the Iraq War were ambushed by Jabir and his insurgents, then all the other truck drivers were killed off one by one before he got blacked out.
=== Buried ===
He later awakes only to find himself buried in a wooden coffin with only a Zippo lighter, a pen, and a BlackBerry phone at hand. As he gradually begins to piece together what has happened to him, he recalls that he and several others were ambushed by terrorists, passing out after being hit by a rock. After calling 911 in Youngstown, Ohio, the FBI in Chicago and his employer (none of whom help him), he receives a call from his kidnapper, Jabir, demanding that he pay a ransom of $5 million or he will be left in the coffin to die. Along with the script Paul is to read, Paul also finds a malfunctioning flashlight, a glow stick, a flask with alcohol, and a pocket knife.
Paul calls the State Department, which tells him that due to the government policy of not negotiating with terrorists, it will not pay the ransom but will try to rescue him. They connect him with Dan Brenner, head of the Hostage Working Group, who tells Paul they are working to find him, to conserve the Blackberry's battery life, and implores him not to make the video that Jabir has demanded. Brenner informs Paul that a man named Mark White was rescued from a similar situation three weeks prior and is now home safe with his family. Paul calls his mother, who is in a nursing home, but she barely remembers him due to severe dementia.
Jabir calls Paul again and demands he film a ransom video, sending a photo of his colleague, Pamela, gagged with a gun to her head. Paul insists that no one will pay $5 million, so Jabir drops the amount to $1 million. Paul finds a live snake in the coffin, which he is able to drive away through a hole in the wooden crate side with a fire from the alcohol. After switching the language on the Blackberry to English, he finds the Blackberry's number, which he relays to his wife in a voicemail. Paul records the video, however, the kidnappers execute Pamela anyway and send him video of the murder. He calls Brenner, who is upset with him for making the video, which is now being played on all major networks and has received numerous views on YouTube.
Shortly afterward, distant explosions shake the area, which damage his coffin, causing it to slowly fill with sand. His employer's legal counsel calls him, asking him not to speak with anyone in order to keep the situation "contained". His employer then begins to record the call and informs him that he has been retroactively terminated from his job earlier that same day (conveniently before his capture) due to an alleged prohibited relationship with Pamela. Because of this, his company will not only not take any responsibility for his capture, but additionally, he and his family also will not be entitled to any benefits or pension earned with the company.
Brenner calls saying that the explosions that damaged his coffin earlier were in fact F-16 bombings and that his kidnappers may have been killed. Paul begins to lose hope and makes a last will and testament in video form, leaving his wife his personal savings and his son his clothes. Jabir calls demanding Paul video record himself cutting off a finger, threatening Paul’s family back home by revealing their home address. Paul complies with this demand.
Shortly after filming the video, his cell phone rings, and Paul begins to hear digging and distorted voices. The voices become clearer, saying to open the coffin, and the coffin opens. It abruptly becomes obvious that he hallucinated the encounter.
Brenner calls and tells Paul an insurgent has given details of where to find a man buried alive, and that they are driving out to rescue him. Paul then receives a tearful call from his wife Linda, and he assures her that he is going to be okay. As sand continues to fill the coffin to dangerous levels, giving Paul seconds left to live, Brenner calls and tells him that he and the rescue team have arrived at the burial site. Through the phone, digging is heard, but Paul cannot hear any digging around him. The team digs up a coffin and opens it, but it is revealed that the insurgent led them to the coffin of Mark White, the man Brenner claimed had been rescued. Knowing that he is not going to be saved, Paul tries to calm himself down and accepts his fate. The film ends with Brenner profusely apologizing to Paul as the sand finally fills the coffin and he suffocates as the light goes out, and the screen goes black.
In a post-credits scene, a lighter illuminates the name "Mark White" on the lid of the coffin, written by Paul earlier.
==Trivia==
*Ryan Reynolds stated that he suffered from claustrophobia towards the end of filming (much like the character he is playing). This was mainly due to the fact the coffin he was in was gradually filled with more and more sand as filming went on. He describes the last day of shooting as "unlike anything I experienced in my life, and I never ever want to experience that again."
*When Paul Conroy (Ryan Reynolds) opens up the note his kidnapper wants him to read on video, the first line says "The date is 23 October." This is Ryan Reynolds' birthday.
*Ryan Reynolds was the first and only choice to play Paul Conroy.
*Ryan Reynolds later mocked the events of this film in Deadpool and its sequel.
*Paul Conroy (Ryan Reynolds) is leaving a message for his family after all hope seems to be lost. He gives his social security number and birthday as 3/23/76. Other than the month, the day and year are correct. His real birthday is 10/23/76.
*The note Paul finds in the coffin reads: "The day is 23rd October. I am Paul Conroy. I live in Hastings, Michigan, America. I am kidnapped in Iraq. Buried in ground. Send five million money U.S. by 9 hours night or I will be dead. People will call you with place money needs be help."
*Ryan Reynolds accidentally burnt his arm from using the lighter during one of its scenes.
*Pamela Lutti is the only character other than Paul Conroy who appears on screen, during a video call.
*Ryan Reynolds and Erik Palladino starred together in Finders Fee (2001).
*Alan Davenport, the Personnel Director at CRT, states that the current date is October 23, 2006. This would have been a horrifying way to spend one's [Ryan's] 30th birthday. However, since the movie was filmed in 2009, and released late September of 2010, Ryan would be 32/33 during filming and turning 34.
*Ryan Reynolds was, just for a moment, actually buried in the shooting of the film's climactic moments. The production crew had a team of paramedics waiting on standby.
*Ryan Reynolds is the only person we see in the flesh. All of the other performances are either voiceovers or recorded on his cell phone. The whole film is shot from the interior of the coffin. We never see the outside world. The film never repeats a single shot. These all make Buried one of the most dangerous and minimalist films ever made and one of Lionsgate's biggest films to date and their most dangerous film to date.
*The government agent that is attempting to save Paul Conroy (Ryan Reynolds) is asked how many people have made it out of this situation alive. The agent states that there were two others who made it home alive, one being a man named Mark White. But when the agent thinks he and his team are about to save Conroy, he states that they have actually opened the coffin containing a dead Mark White. This makes the agent's story a lie, and hints that no one has actually been successfully rescued.
*The movie never leaves the coffin. Paul occasionally receives images and videos from his captors from unknown locations. He also hallucinates, seeing the coffin lid opening at one point, though nothing is shown but a bright light. There are also no flashbacks or cutaways showing anything other than what's happening inside the coffin.
*Assuming the casket is an average size, Ryan Reynolds occupies 85.33 liters, each breath is .5 liters, he breathes all of the air in the casket, and starting from his first audible breath of the movie to the moment he is buried in sand, he takes approximately eighteen breaths a minute.
==External Links==
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