127 Hours (2010)

“Every second counts”

Another Oscar movie. Another good review.

Whenever you’re put in a very hard situation, like getting your arm stuck between a wall and a boulder, you cannot waste time on anything at all. There’s a lot things you need to gather and think about and then you need to take action. If you don’t… well then you’ll probably just die.

127 Hours is the latest film from critically acclaimed British filmmaker Danny Boyle. It’s a true story of Aron Ralston, a hiker, who sets out to the Utah desert without telling anyone where he was going and gets stuck in a very narrow crevice with a boulder smashed on his right arm. After getting stuck, Ralston, who was played by the ever so talented James Franco, starts to rethink his past life and mistakes and has some mild visual hallucinations. If you know Ralston’s story, then you obviously know how it’s going to work out.

This film explores the last hours of someone’s life. What’s even more extraordinary is that these last hours actually happened. According to Ralston, the film was a very true account of what really took place and that it felt like a documentary. I like how it didn’t take a psychological direction, in other words where they explored Ralston’s psyche and he started going crazy. Instead, Ralston was able to keep a little sane; he had this little one on one in interview with himself to his Canon camcorder, but that’s okay. There was also a humor side to it, and James Franco’s silly facial expressions and comical antics really do lift the spirits of the audience who have cringed with claustrophobia. That’s another thing, if you don’t like bugs, are claustrophobic, and squeamish, you’ve been warned.

I love the photography of this film. Also the editing. It was very fast and looked like a little kid’s YouTube video. Also the way the desert was played out as a character created a huge good conquers evil scenario. Ralston’s philosophy about his fate with the boulder in the last act really supports my analysis. One thing about this movie is the way it was able to play out with most of the film being Ralston stuck with the boulder. To me…I was skeptic. But, because of the buzz it’s getting, I knew that it had to have been perfectly told and directed. I mean it’s Danny Boyle.

I have to praise James Franco for his performance. He was just spectacular, funny, charismatic, his usual goofy self. I also have to praise the cinematography and the directing. The hallucinations and flashbacks add to the plot and create a more dramatic story then “It’s about a guy who gets stuck in the desert”. Nobody’s going to watch that.

I give the film a 4.5 out of 5 and it’s out now in theatres.