Surprisingly entertaining and less gory than you'd think.

Rating: 8/10 (15 July 2015)

Had this movie not been based on a real event, I would have said that it was trying to make a name for itself by being something that we'd "never seen before". This wasn't because it was shot with any absolutely mind-blowing camera work or anything like that, though it does have a very distinct style. The story/situation is really quite something though. It's probably fairly true to the event since we can assume that the real Aron videoed himself at least a little and wrote a book about the experience to boot.
So the basic premise is that a mountain biker, Aron Ralston, gets his right arm trapped under a boulder in the wilderness. The story mostly hinges on his failed attempts to get out from under the rock and how he mentally reacts to his plight. It's nice that we're with Aron every step (or lack thereof) of the way. He runs into some practical issues, namely lack of food and water, dropping his knife, and the elephant in the desert of being stuck in the middle of nowhere with no way of contacting anyone. He also goes through some mental/emotional progression with his flashbacks and hallucinations. You can usually tell when he's hallucinating, but some of it still might be a little disturbing.
The times when Aron is more sentimental are a little striking because he has a, I don't want to call it a facade but something like that, of lightness and humor. He can even be sentimental while he's being goofy, like in his self-interview. Even if he's kind of eccentric, we can sort of relate to him, and besides that his situation is deserving of some kind of sympathy. The only other people he comes in contact with the whole movie are the two other hikers, Kristen and Meagan. Both of them are written well in that they feel realistic and give Aron hope for when he's stuck under the rock. The other characters are only shown in flashback, which I guess means they aren't really characters.
The camera-work and cinematography are unique, not necessarily better or worse. There's a lot of split screen, mostly at the beginning. The execution of Aron cutting his arm off was uncompromising in it's portrayal. The directing and acting, which basically all comes from James Franco, were pretty good, arguably great. WARNING: If you consider yourself squeamish or anything like that, you may want to skip the rest of the paragraph. There is a fair amount of blood, not unrealistic, but still copious. The operation buzz sound effects when he tries to cut his nerve off were a perfect compliment, even if it makes you feel a little gross. The entire decapitation takes a little over a minute, but the pain shown is personal enough to make you uncomfortable for a little while.
On the whole, it's pretty inspiring in a way similar to the Shawshank Redemption since you've seen the protagonist go through so much and hopefully you're really excited for them to be free. It's relatively impressive filmmaking, though there is a little shaky camera-work for the go-pro style biking sequences. If you're averse to watching it because of the arm amputation scene, just close your eyes for the 80 seconds and enjoy the rest. I recommend seeing it through, but if you get really annoyed with Aron after about half an hour, it probably won't be enjoyable for you. Overall Rating: 8.3/10.