A Missed Opportunity

Rating: 4/10 (28 June 2011)

Part of the problem is that the subject matter raises the standard for a film such as this. The story would seem to require a tone and a style that's driven by some essential truth – not necessarily a literal dramatization, but something fundamental and permanent for the viewer to discover or reflect upon. If that's not in Danny Boyle's bag of tricks – fine. I just wish he had left the story for someone else.
The film is noisy and cluttered. It's like a person with little to say that never stops talking for fear of a lull in the conversation. The music is abrasive and usually feels like an intrusion. There seems to be little effort by the filmmakers to create a mood that conveys what the experience must have been like. There is no passage of time – only images of a watch. Whenever something genuine seems ready to emerge it's preempted by some montage of remote events, as if the viewer constantly needs to be reminded that life goes on somewhere else.
Visually, you would think that it would be hard for a film like this to miss. There are some great shots, but the effect is never sustained. It's always undermined by some subsequent material, as if the filmmakers have an unconscious need to negate anything beautiful in their own work.
John Franco gives a decent performance, but many of the character's actions don't seem plausible in the given situations, due to the writing. The film's biggest flaw is that it's simply not believable.
If you haven't already read the book, you'll want to after seeing 127 Hours. The film simply doesn't ring true. Hopefully other filmmakers who have a greater affinity for the subject will take it on at some point in the future – either as a documentary or a dramatization. It's a story that deserves to be told well.