Pulse-pounding tale of survival

Rating: 9/10 (29 January 2014)

127 Hours is an intense, edge-of-your-seat film that never fails to capture your attention even though most of the movie revolves around one person. Just in case you've been living under a rock (pun intended), 127 Hours tells the true story of Aron Ralston, played by James Franco, a free spirited adrenaline junkie who literally finds himself trapped between a rock and a hard place while exploring the Blue John Canyons in Utah.
Although most of the film centers around Ralston, it never lags and this is mainly attributed to director Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire). As if we didn't already know, Boyle proves that he is one of the most impressive directors working today. By using flashbacks, dream sequences and hallucinations, 127 succeeds in holding your interest the whole time. Also, his use of multiple split screens help keep the film visually interesting.
Another credit goes to James Franco, who gives the performance of his career as Ralston. It's not an easy task to be the only actor on screen, but Franco triumphs in every way possible. Franco portrays every emotion Ralston must have gone through while trapped; anger, sadness, and guilt, sometimes all in the same scene.
Ralston also manages to keep his sense of humor, mainly as a defense mechanism to keep from going insane. While trapped, Ralston keeps a video diary of his every move and thought. Often telling us what time it is and how much water he has left. He also records messages to his family, and this is where much of the heart of the film really is.
Although I knew the outcome of the story, I never felt that Ralston was safe. His life constantly feels in peril and it's not until the camera zooms out from Ralston's place of captivity, that we truly realize how alone he really is and how there is zero hope of anyone finding him. If he is to survive, he must do it on his own.
This is one of the main themes throughout the film, Ralston's yearning to be by himself. The beginning of the film opens with images of crowds of people at various events. Ralston wants to escape this hectic lifestyle so bad that he doesn't even tell anybody where he's going.
Many people would compare 127 Hours to films like Castaway and Open Water, although it doesn't really fit. In Castaway, Tom Hanks had a whole island to explore. In Open Water, there were two characters. 127 Hours can most closely be compared to Buried (also released this year) staring Ryan Reynolds who is trapped in a coffin.
I don't really see why 127 Hours isn't a film for everybody to enjoy. Sure, there is a particular scene that is hard to watch. It's handled with the perfect amount of screen time without making it seem gratuitous, but at the same time, giving it the treatment it deserves in order for it to feel real. During this seen, I could feel the audience squirming in their seats, accompanied by audible groans. The music in this scene is loud and pulsing and many times screeches to deafening decibels in order to convey the anguish that Ralston is going through.
We are lucky to have a film like 127 Hours get a wide release, unlike the aforementioned Buried, which never really saw the light of day. Hopefully people will go see it, proving to studios that people don't mind watching a film that is basically carried by one actor.