James Franco's Oscar bid

Rating: Null/10 (11 February 2011)

I don't know the odds for this to happen (one in a million?) but it did happen – in 2003 Aron Ralston on a solo wilderness adventure slipped and fell into a canyon crevice together with a boulder that pinned his right lower arm against the stone wall. He was stuck there in the middle of nowhere for 127 hours and would have died had he not cut off his lower forearm with a blunt multi-purpose instrument. Danny Boyle had the guts to make this into a movie which turns out to be at once excruciatingly painful and fascinatingly absorbing to watch. On one plain, it's a gruelling experience, even if only through a movie. There have been reports of people in the audience fainting. On the other plain, it's fascinating to observe Boyle's skill in telling this story that is almost impossible to tell.
The prelude is full of zest and life, showing Ralston's chance encounter with two girls sort of lost in their expedition and how he took them to explore a fabulous underground pool. The sequence showed the sunny side of his character – outgoing, friendly, witty, confident, perhaps a little reckless – accentuating the later ordeal which draws out his gutsy, cool determination. Anyway, they parted cheerfully and he resumed his expedition..and "Oops" (watch for how this expression is used in the movie).
It's a trying experience to physically empathize with a man trapped immobilized in the middle of nowhere waiting for a slow death. Fortunately or unfortunately, Boyle has done a terrific job in creating that empathy. Even worse is suffering with him the wave after wave of hope and frustration – pushing and pulling, scraping the crack, devising a pulley system. Later still, the protagonist went through a transition from imagination to hallucination. In addition to a top-notch director, and even more importantly, it takes a great actor to draw the audience into this agonizing ordeal. James Franco did exactly that, and deserves an Oscar.
What makes the movie work is that the depiction is not all one-sided gloom although the situation seems hopeless. There is one marvellous scene showing the sunlight moving through the crevice in which Ralston is trapped – 15 minutes of direct sunlight he get each day. The emotional height the audience experience is almost indescribable. There is also the self-recording video showing Ralston's death-defying sense of humour, and what makes this priceless is that it is real, based on the video he actually took during the ordeal.
As we all know, the story has a happy ending. Despite the physical loss of his hand and lower forearm, Aron Ralston is leading a happy, healthy family life, continues to be an adventurer and helps people by sharing his inspiring experience.
One thought going through his mind in the ordeal however is haunting, something to the effect that "This piece of rock, ever since its formation centuries ago, has been waiting for me since my birth, waiting for this day to end my life" – something for the audience to ponder. Is there really a thing called "fate"?