127 Hours
Release date: November 12, 2010
Director: Danny Boyle
Book by: Aron Ralston
Screenplay by: Danny Boyle, Simon Beaufoy
Cast: James Franco, Kate Mara, Amber Tamblyn, Clémence Poésy, Lizzy Caplan
After his crowning as Best Director for Slumdog Millionaire, Danny Boyle is back with 127 Hours, the story of Aron Ralston (Franco), the man whose arm gets trapped under a rock in the middle of nowhere for five days.
And I know this might be a spoiler to some, but the film does go “there” and you see everything. It’s horrific.
Because of its premise, man trapped in one location for an unbearable period of time, 127 Hours gets compared to Buried a lot. Having said that, both are very different films. For one, 127 Hours isn’t constrained to just one physical space throughout the whole film.
In it, Franco plays Ralston as a smug nothing-can-get-me-down adventurer. And we see glimpses of his life through flashbacks, which aren’t enough to get us to care much about Ralston as a character. Though, the film is good enough to get us to think, “Oh my God, what would I do in his position?” In that sense, it is a lot less angering than Buried, and a lot less thrilling as a movie.
127 Hours is pretty beautiful to look at, even when trapped in that ditch in the mountain. However, the editing became a little heavy as the movie progressed, and became pretty boring to transition through those flashbacks.
Overall, the film is good enough for a watch and has pretty nice use of music, but it’s not strong enough to stick with you longer than a day… even with Franco’s performance.
Rating:
I was put off seeing this film after watching a documentary with Aron Ralston who describes in detail how he cut off his own arm. I wondered whether I wanted to see a film with that knowledge already to hand. The concept is something that I feel makes for a good film but I’m not a fan of flashback as a narrative device so I doubt this will rate too highly for me. Still, I’ll probably get around to watching it although I won’t be rushing.
@Dan, don’t think you need to rush. I even prefer Slumdog Millionaire… ha! And I think every cinephile I know hated that movie xD
@amy, I was actually a fan of Slumdog – perhaps less though than some but I liked its sense of fun coupled with a story that had a lot of interest. Even though it had flashbacks I think it worked with the gameshow concept as it was made up of chapter-like episodes. It was also nice to see a film set in India break into the mainstream even if it was British movie.
@Dan, did you check our Beginner’s Guide to Indian Cinema?
…I hadn’t seen that Amy. Going to check it out now.
I recently had to sit through a French film called In My Skin for a film class. It was intensely graphic and gory, and I had to leave the room because I felt sick (first time that’s ever happened). I’ve heard 127 hours is somewhat similar, so I’ve been reluctant to watch it.
@Kendra, haven’t seen In My Skin, but 127 Hours is not… that graphic. It’s just the idea of the trauma, being there and having to do that. The rest of the film, overall, was kind of okay… a little annoying and a little boring at times.