127 Hours (2010)

3.5/5 -- A moving and absorbing portrayal of Aron Ralston’s incredible spirit in the face of bleak circumstances.


If you don't like James Franco's face, this is perhaps not the film for you.

Director: Danny Boyle
Writers: Danny Boyle (screenplay), Simon Beaufoy (screenplay),
Stars: James Franco

I found 127 Hours bizarrely life affirming, which might be a unique reaction, but I perhaps seeing a man trapped in a cavern for five days makes you want to do more with your own physical liberty. Based on a true story, Aron Ralston (James Franco) is a mountain climber who becomes trapped under a boulder while canyoneering and resorts to extreme, desperate measures in order to survive. The film predominantly follows Aron’s 127 hours trapped in the canyon, capturing his thought process via a video camera that he had packed, supplemented by clever camera direction.

This is another concept, like Buried, that shouldn’t really work but does. Again, most of the film is confined to a small, enclosed space and as a result it is a slow paced film, in an effort to highlight Aron’s protracted physical struggle. However, this film was never tedious and Danny Boyle is careful to contrast moments of despair and frustration with lighter moments that make the film funny in parts.

It’s hard to review this film without talking about its one climatic scene, which was widely publicised before the film’s release, but if you really don’t want to read about it, ignore the next paragraph.

All the buzz about this film was focussed around its defining scene, where Aron cuts off his arm with a blunt knife to escape. Everyone knew about this scene going into the cinema, I even remember them talking about it on BBC Breakfast (which wasn’t the perfect addition to my corn flakes) and Danny Boyle plays on the fact that this would be the film’s selling point, highlighting the point at the beginning of the film where he couldn’t find his Swiss army knife and often bringing the focus of the audience’s attention to the blade as a perverse precursor to the horror that awaits them. In truth, as you might expect, the scene was not as gory as hyped. I understand why people would steer clear of this film as a result of this key scene, but this is not Saw VII, it’s graphic, yes, but not excessive.

James Franco competently acts this difficult role, but I wanted to see him push himself a little further, to reveal the partial insanity that Aron must have experienced. He does a great job of portraying Aron’s incredible spirit and determination, but could have done more with the role.