James Franco plays a relatable protagonist

Rating: 7/10 (16 November 2015)

127 Hours is not a movie that I expected to love right off of the bat. While I had heard very positive things about it, I was skeptical--how could James Franco carry an entire narrative on his own? And of course, I had heard about "that scene" towards the end of the film (as most people have). I have a pretty high tolerance for gore, but I didn't know if I would be able to watch a man cut his own arm off with a dull knife (especially after learning that several people had fainted during screenings after seeing this particular scene.) 127 hours focuses entirely on the story of Aron Ralston--a 20-30 year-old man with a knack for climbing, mountain biking and the wilderness. He leaves for a weekend trip to a canyon in Utah, without notifying any of his friends or family where he is going. He has a brief run in with some women, and he goes out of his way to take the to a secret underground swimming hole, but once he returns to his trek (by himself,) things go south. He slips into a canyon, and a heavy boulder lands on top of his arm, pinning him against the impenetrable canyon wall. He tries to move the rock, but only ends up making matters worse for himself, and ultimately is faced with a choice--does he let himself die, or risk cutting off his pinned arm in order to free himself?
The film does an excellent job setting up Aron's character--he's capable and knowledgeable about what he's doing, but he's also a little too cocky for his own good. At the beginning of the film, and through flashbacks, we see him ignore a few calls from his friends and family. We also see him leave his job at the bike store, and refuse to tell his manager where he will be visiting over the weekend when he asks him. As Aron grows weary from dehydration and exhaustion, his mind begins to wander between his more notable memories and bizarre hallucinations. It is through the former that we are able to see how, in many ways, Aron brought this upon himself. He isolated himself from people who cared about him in lieu of his sport,and while he never comes off as a terrible person, it quickly becomes clear that Aron may have had a chance had he made better choices. There's a dark irony to all of these scenes, and it really hit me hard. Aron realizes, the irony, too. "Oops," he says to himself.
The writing is extremely relatable, and James Franco did an amazing job at portraying the alternating (and constantly escalating) emotions of frustration, desperation, and loss of sanity. After the accident, which ends up being where Aron spends the majority of the remainder of the film, Franco doesn't really move much on screen. However, his vivid and varied facial expressions, combined with the dirt in his hair and the way he inhabits Aron's body, really helps to sell the character. In other words, I never felt like I was watching James Franco--I believed that I was watching Aron Ralston. That's remarkably high praise.
The cinematography grew on me over time. The jump cuts are a little overused in my opinion, but in certain scenes, they are incredibly effective at conveying Ralston's train of thought. It's pretty impressive the kind of angles that they were able to utilize within the confines of such a small space, which means that the movie nails the feelings of claustrophobia without getting boring. The best shot of the film, in my opinion, is when Ralston screams for help, and the camera flies out of the canyon, revealing just how insignificant Ralston is in comparison with the world around him (literally and figuratively speaking).
The film is trippy and discomforting, but it also was relatable. I grimaced, but I also empathized and felt hope for Ralston, and wanted to see him succeed. This film is definitely worth a watch.