Danny Boyle (Director of Slumdog Millionare) has done it again with his all new powerful drama 127 Hours, taking a look at the real life survival story of Aron Ralston. If there's any movie that will teach you the power of the human spirit, it's this one. But is the film really Oscar worthy, and can James Franco manage to carry out the whole movie on his own?
The movie follows Aron Ralston (James Franco), just your average guy preparing for a day of canyoneering in Canyonlands National Park in Utah. The next morning, he bikes through the park, aiming to skip about 45 minutes of the guide book's estimate for the time needed to reach his destination.
He is on foot, running when he sees two hikers, Kristi (Kate Mara) and Megan (Amber Tamblyn) who are also there to climb and are lost. Ralston convinces them that he's a trail guide and offers to show them a much more interesting route than the one they had been trying to find. After getting pretty friendly with them, they invite him to a party they're throwing, which they doubt he'll show up to.
He continues into Blue John Canyon, through a narrow passage where a boulder is wedged between the walls of rock. After mistakingly step on the rock, it falls (Along with him) and jams his arm against the rock wall, squished and trapped. After Ralston tries many technics to break himself free and keep himself alive, he soon realizes the harsh reality that he only has to options; die or cut off his own arm.
Boyle does a great job from surprisingly keeping you interested in the movie rather than drifting off, and Franco's over the top dramatic performance (Which you would think would be useless and annoying) is what really held the film together. Boyle shows step by step the many strategies Ralston used to set himself free from the boulder.
One of the strategies Boyle used to keep the movie at a good pace was flashbacks, but the problem I had with them was, they didn't make sense. I mean you'd hear dramatic music and just see a random kid sitting on a couch, and then girls in a van drinking and pulling off their shirts, and Ralston's entire family sitting on one couch. How does this move the plot? I mean I can see if you explain that the kid on the couch is Ralston dreaming of having a son, but it's just pure silence. How are we supposed to figure that out for ourselves?
Now that I've gotten pretty much all the cons out of my system, now I'll talk pros. Like I said earlier, Franco delivered one of his best performances in a long time, and I'm glad to see him using his acting talents for something other than dumb comedies (Not saying any names, Cough *Your Highness* Cough). And the amputation scene is as realistic as things get in film, showing lots of gore. If your weak with violence, I suggest offering to get more popcorn or soda refills when the scene arrives.
127 Hours is a great and powerful movie to check out, but you might find yourself dazed and confused by it's random flashbacks, and traumatized by it's very brutal and violent amputation scene. And if you find yourself bored in most solo films, this probably isn't for you. But honestly, there's no other reasons 127 Hours shouldn't be up for any Oscars.
I give 127 Hours 4 out of 5 stars:
And here's the trailer for 127 Hours:
What did you think of 127 Hours?Are you going to see it?
