Good book material perhaps, but...

Rating: 5/10 (5 February 2011)

this film was slow and rather tedious. The best parts of the movie were the first 5 minutes or so, when we see the "hero" cavorting in the outdoors amidst beautiful scenery, and the last 5 minutes or so, when the he cuts off his arm to free himself and encounters shocked and horrified hikers. Despite the notoriety surrounding the particular incident depicted in this film, it's still essentially a survival story. That genre isn't exactly new, but the director here fees he has to do something different so instead of focusing on the build-up of the character we get endless, moody flashbacks that are essentially irrelevant and uninteresting and serve only to take us out of the moment. I was somewhat confused as to what exactly the main character did for a living. Did he work in some sporting goods store? If so, why not introduce the character showing him giving good advice to customers (i.e., don't hike alone, tell family and friends where you're going, etc.) and then contrast that with his own rash behavior as he set off alone.
And we never see the incident from another's perspective, such as the rescue personnel, the doctors, or even the hikers who discover the injured man. Why not build up the moment when hikers come across the injured Ralston. As audience members, we can never know Ralston's pain and suffering, but we can put ourselves in the place of the hikers who found and helped Ralston. Their shock, horror, and confusion, would be palpable and understandable, but instead those people are just an afterthought. This film focuses entirely on the thoughts and feelings of Ralston, and that's a weakness. James Franco is fine as Aaron Ralston, but the script and the direction lets him down.