An absolutely fantastic film.

Rating: 8/10 (18 January 2011)

127 Hours tells the famous tale of Aron Ralston, a charismatic mountain climber and general sport enthusiast, who through a series of ill fated decisions became trapped in Blue John Canyon in Utah, in mid 2003. His arm had been crushed and lodged between a boulder and a canyon, effectively imprisoning him. He told nobody where he was going. Literally nobody.
The movie details the 127 Hours that he is stuck there - his efforts to survive with what little rations he had, the psychological impact of his entrapment, and of course as I'm sure everyone knows at this stage, his escape.
This is a very very good movie, and is well worthy of the accolades that it will undoubtedly receive. It does seem on paper as an extremely difficult, if not impossible movie to make, given that most of the screen time is dedicated to Ralston, played by James Franco, sitting in what is essentially his tomb. However, Danny Boyle, through fantastic writing with Simon Beaufoy, and slightly less than fantastic directing has delivered a ninety four minute film that simply does not get boring.
Indubitably, James Franco is the star of the show here. He owns the role he plays. I truly believed in him as Aron Ralston, which is a rare thing in a movie, particularly a biopic. At no point in the film does his performance feel laboured, despite the fact that for much of the movie, it is just you and Franco one on one, with nothing to distract you from his performance. From the extreme highs, to the extreme lows in Ralston's five days you really feel like you're with him. His incessant cockiness never alienates you from his character, if nothing else it serves to bring you closer to the character, to root for him in his time of demise. If this was any other actor, I feel the opposite may be true. For someone so charismatic and free-spirited, this is the ultimate torture. Colin Firth was fantastic in The King's Speech, but James Franco is better. I do feel Franco owes much of his performance to Beaufoy/Boyle's writing, but that can be said vice versa too. It just works.
Given all of this, I do feel the direction of the movie left something to be desired. I haven't seen Slumdog Millionaire, or indeed any of Danny Boyle's other movies, but I wasn't a lover of how he made this movie. Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to say he was horribly awful or anything of the sort, but I got the distinct impression that Boyle got spooked at the idea of filming Franco in a canyon for over an hour and felt the need to add in plenty and plenty of special effects to keep the viewer entertained. For me, this was a foolish move. The tri-split screen thing, the irrelevant cheering crowds, the in your face action at the start, kind of bothered me, particularly as the movie pushed on. It's my opinion that the film could have been better had it relied solely on Franco's performance, had Boyle had more faith in it maybe, if the movie was more purely a dramatic piece. Maybe I'm just picky. It didn't stop me loving it too much.
The now infamous arm scene towards the end, well, it doesn't deserve half the discussion it's getting. In fact none of it. It's a bit bloody, and in the context of the movie it's heart wrenching, but from what I'm reading and hearing it's becoming the selling point of the movie. People are going to see, or indeed not going to see 127 Hours due to how realistic the scene is. It is a fantastic scene. Fantastic fantastic fantastic. I just hope hope hope it doesn't undermine Franco's performance.
Go see this movie if you like a good drama. That's what it is, and it's up there with the best of them because it's one that drags you down and pulls you right back up a dozen times over. James Franco truly blew me away and if he doesn't get the Oscar for Best Actor I will eat my hat and various other items of clothing.