127 Hours

Title: 127 Hours
Year: 2010
Director: Danny Boyle
Lead: James Franco
Rated: Rated R for language and some disturbing violent content/bloody images.

What lengths would a man go to stay alive?

If you don't know the story, Its about a man named Aron Ralston who was hiking one day by himself in the canyons of Canyon Land National Park. While navigating a rather narrow canyon he loosened a heavy boulder that pinned his arm against the canyon wall. He went 127 Hours with minimal water and hardly no food before he effectively cut off his own arm with a dull pocket knife. Danny Boyle really does this story right. This movie is good, it tells Aron's harrowing story quite well, and James Franco plays his part quite well which is very necessary when he's almost the only actor on the screen. Mr. Boyle had an incredible vision when he shot this film. Every shot is well planned, including one of my favorites, when he dollies the camera from Franco stuck, all the way out into the sky, miles above the canyon. Brilliant. The script in this movie is pretty excellent, there are words when there need to be and none when silence is key and James Franco giving his video camera logs are so great, its where he really convinces us that he is truly stuck and quite panicked. My only problem was how the movie looked a little too "film school". It was almost over thought, Boyle was trying so hard it seemed like, he was successful at creating a great movie but it seemed like he felt he had to play it up a bit with lots of close ups and weird angles. So lets talk about the arm cutting scene, because it is kind of key. When Franco starts hallucinating and seeing his future kid, it gets great, without any words we know that he is doing this for life that he could have if he got out. He starts cutting, and I have to say, I WANTED to watch, it was triumphant, it was courageous, hell, it was manly. I do have to send out a thank you to Danny Boyle for not keeping the camera on the arm when he broke the bones, instead you gave me an excellent idea of shaking the camera on cue with the snapping sound. Brilliant #2. 127 Hours is a champions story. Its great. 127 Hours is nominated for 6 Academy Awards including Best Actor in James Franco and Best Picture. 8 out of 10