Give James Franco and 127 Hours a hand! They did a great job!

Rating: 8/10 (25 April 2013)

One thing that Director Danny Boyle got right in this film is how close they film the movie based on Aron Ralston's memoir Between a Rock and a Hard Place. The film stars James Franco as real-life adventurer Aron Ralston, who became trapped by a fallen boulder that crashed on his arm and trapped him in an isolated canyon in Blue John Canyon, Utah. The cinematography of the desert was beautiful shot. I like how Boyle convey the vastness of the canyon and the area of Aron get entombed. I was kinda one of the people that didn't really watched to see this, but after seeing the reviews. I went to see this on my own. I was pretty blown away. I kinda like James Franco in this movie, he was very charming in this movie, unlike his roles in Spiderman. It's probably his best role since Pineapple Express. It was a great start, by 20 minutes in the film, besides meeting the girls Kristi (Kate Mara) and Megan (Amber Tambyln). You pretty much just have James Franco stuck on a rock. Most of the scenes Aron shares with them is pretty much pointless. In my opinion, you can pretty much skip 20 minutes until he get his hand stuck and you wouldn't miss much. So James Franco's Aron Ralston had to be a likable character in this for it to work. The one thing, I found funny is how loose that rock look. He pretty much, did a dumbass move, by getting stuck like that in my opinion. Anyways, days pass, and you see flashbacks from his life. The good thing about this movie is that he didn't really had a bad life, unlike most of the movie's survivor characters I watch. The film introduces us to Aron's father (Treat Williams) and mother (Kate Burton) and the love of his life, Rana (Clemence Poesy) through brief flashback. These moments, though brief, helps to give us insight into Aron's character and life. At times it was hard to know what the flashbacks were referring to. I recommend reading the book or getting the book on tape to get a great account if the story first, before watching this. His mind is running, while he is not. It was just him, trying to get away from the pain of being trapped. He gets crazy, and acts funny at times without moving. I love the idea of him trying to keep sane, by acting like he has a TV Show at the abandoned canyon. I like how strong and smart, he can be, despite being a bit of an idiot. There is no force more powerful than the will to live. I love the Gatorade scene as well. I never though Scooby Doo can be use so creepy. The dream sequences are very haunting and well done. Without spoiling the ending, there is a scene where Aron must act upon to save himself. That scene is both realistic and gruesome, even more when one takes into account that this actually occurred. Rarely does a scene make me wince and recoil the way this scene did. It's brilliantly shot, edited, and executed; graphic, but Boyle only shows as much as necessary relying on haunting sound effects and Franco to convey what's happening. It's a powerful, unforgettable scene. It's a bit predictable, if you saw the trailers for the film or hear the movie. Most people know what happens to Aron Ralston, there. It can be a bit long, and drawn out. It would probably work better as a good documentary with scenes of Aron's family talking about him with the movie style reenactment. Still, I like the movie to have more description of Aron's efforts trying to get out of the desert. Overall, I like the movie. It's an inspiring tale of the strength of the human spirit. So check it out, and see how one man cheated death.