A Gripping, Gorgeous and Intimate Story with James Franco at his A-game

Rating: 9/10 (5 April 2019)

I stayed away from this movie for a long time, for the most obvious reason; I have a weak stomach and for anyone who knows this story ends, they might imagine why this movie is not for me. I decided to take a leap of faith, and watched it anyway. Despite it taking place in mostly one location, with only one character, this movie is so well written, shot and acted that you just keep watching. That makes including the end well worth it(still can't quite handle it).
Acting:
James Franco as Aaron Ralston is absolutely great. Having to carry a movie all by yourself is a daunting task, but Franco does it effortlessly, providing a wide range of extreme emotions like fear, anger, depression, humor and joy at all the right moments. At the most difficult scenes he is so good that it is hard to believe that he is not actually going through all this.
Kate Mara and Amber Tamblyn as the two girls Aaron meets at the start are allright. Off course being in such a short portion of the movie, they can't show off that much, but are still quite delightful.
The same goes for the handful of actors that appears in Aaron's flashbacks and visions; they all sell what they need to sell. Some deleted scenes give extra opportunity for this, and particulary Lizzy Caplan shines at these small moments.
Direction:
Danny Boyle is known for his professionalism with actors and visuals, and always delivers on solid characters and their development. This is no exception. He always stays close to Aaron and makes sure that we feel just as trapped and desperate as he is. The use of flashbacks and hallucinations is also smoothly done, with peculiar choiches for lighting and camera position. It ensures that every such scene conveys a certain feeling that feels very different from the canyon we spend most of the time in.
Cinematography:
This movie is gorgeous to watch; everything has a warm yellow haze over it, perfectly for the desert setting, contrasted with a deep, cold blue that makes you long for water and the outside world that Aaron can't reach. The use of lens flares is beautiful, and of spotlights imitating the slowly rising sun every day in the canyon. In regards to the position of the shots, a hand-held camera(from the real Aaron Ralston)is used to great effect to truly convey the slow decent into despair that Aaron experiences. Shaky-cam is used just as much as steadycam at the right moments to portray the emotional (in)stability at the right moments.
Plot:
Guy gets trapped under a boulder in the lonely desert, and needs to get out or he'll die. How does he do that? It is not much to build a movie on, but the execution is done as well as possibly could. We first get a comfortable set-up, only to suddenly introduce the major inciting incident. The second act consists of attempts of Aaron freeing himself, intercut with his own tape-recordings and flashbacks, which add greatly to his character for his psyche and resourcefullness. The third act....well let's just say that it is one of the most difficult scenes to watch that you will ever encounter. It is greatly cathartic once you'll get through however, and by the end you feel just as relieved that the whole ordeal is behind Aaron.
Music:
This movie has a very versatile soundtrack, with a lot of different styles and songs, used to great effect. Not sure if I would listen to it in my free time, but one or two songs definitely might appear on my playlist.
Editing:
This is the hidden pillar of support of this movie: if this aspect fails, this movie would get boring very quickly. Through montages, flashbacks, hallucinations and all such things, intercut with Aaron in the canyon, the movie stays fresh most of the time and each time something new is revealed about the protagonist in a way we haven't seen before.
Make-up:
The toll that the long time and malnourishment takes on Aaron is done very subtle and effective; his face pales, bags under his eyes, dry lips. The make-up department did a really good job for the little work that had to be done. Considering the trapped arm: even better. You believe what is happening to that arm. That is the highest praise I can give.
Tone:
This movie is filled with adrenaline, even when the scene doesn't involve such things at all; it is because of the underlying knowledge that we know what eventually Aaron might be forced to do, and every minute takes us closer to that moment. Besides that, this movie is surprisingly effective in giving strong emotion and empathy for Aaron as we learn more about him and what brought the circumstances together that caused him to end up here.
General Concensus:
Despite its very simple premise and setting, Danny Boyle's approach and Franco's performance make this a wonderful experience, all the while backed up by a sense of impending dread and fear, culminating in an explosive finale.