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Friday, November 5, 2010
MOVIE REVIEW
127 Hours
Survival Of The Loneliest, Leaving An Unmistakable Mark
On Nature
James
Franco as Aron Ralston in Danny Boyle's drama "127 Hours", based on the true
story accounted in Mr. Ralston's book.
Fox Searchlight
by
Omar P.L. Moore/PopcornReel.com
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Friday,
November 5, 2010
There were only a few ways to film "127 Hours", and Danny Boyle executes the
vision in those select ways: relentlessly, fearlessly and intensely -- exactly
the spirit in which Aron Ralston aggressively scaled heights and peaks around
Colorado and Utah. Mr. Boyle's film, which opened nationwide today, is
based on Mr. Ralston's book Between A Rock And A Hard Place and
wonderfully adapted for the screen by Simon Beaufoy ("The Full Monty") and Mr.
Boyle.
James Franco impresses mightily as Mr. Ralston, who in 2003 became trapped
when an 800-pound boulder fell and crushed his right hand and lower arm against
a crevice wall of Blue John Canyon in Canyonlands National Park in Utah.
Mr. Ralston had a choice to leave a mark on nature. He literally left a
piece of himself at the Canyon, and Mr. Boyle makes the decision to make the
unwatchable watchable, as we see about two minutes of what was an hour-long
procedure in real life.
"127 Hours" is a lean, visceral adventure drama that brings audiences wholly
inside the mind and memories of Aron Ralston, a single-minded adventurer.
The film works best not as grisly horror, but as inspirational psychological
drama, punctuated by A.R. Rahman's pulsing music. The film isn't exactly
entertaining, it's more an experience, a painstaking ordeal that hews very
closely to the actual events.
Mr. Boyle courageously shows much of the graphic violence even as it becomes
unbearable. The director gives us discreet and obvious previews of Mr.
Franco's right forearm on several occasions, letting the audience in slowly for
what is to come. Not showing any of what many will find very
difficult and disturbing to watch would have been a cop-out and disservice to
Mr. Ralston and the gruesome, bloody six-day ordeal he endured. (Serious
warning: the squeamish nor faint of heart need not apply. Even I found
myself squinting gently at one of the film's toughest moments.) The
violence is never sensationalized; it is as real as it likely was for Mr.
Ralston seven years ago.
Mr. Franco stretches his talents beyond his usual, cerebral portrayals, here
becoming a physical vessel trapped in his own singular adventure. Mr.
Franco exhibits contemplation and regret mixed with excitement and exhilaration.
He plays Mr. Ralston first as a lonely, likable, charismatic tour guide of a
beautiful wilderness, then later as an enthusiastic tour guide and reality-TV
star of his very own natural prison -- a lonely soul by force, not choice.
It's nomination-worthy work. (There are a few "King Of Comedy" moments ala
Robert De Niro, too.) Also great is the memorable cinematography of
Anthony Dod Mantle and Enrique Chediak of the landscape and everything else,
plus the superb editing by Jon Harris, kinetically approximating Mr. Ralston's
boundless energy.
Mr. Boyle's films have often chronicled human survival under rigorous,
oppressive and extraordinary circumstances ("28 Days Later",
"Sunshine" and the Oscar-winning 2008 film
"Slumdog Millionaire") and "127 Hours" isn't any
different, except for its origins as a true story. Here, survival is
embodied in the form of a tireless adventurer. The payoff is the
unquenchable will to live.
I wondered what I would do in Mr. Ralston's position. I don't know.
I do know that "127 Hours" makes perfect sense, because in showcasing Mr.
Ralston's zeal for life and passion for adventure, the unthinkable, excruciating
actions he takes are logical and consistent with the aggressive risk-taker and
irrepressible soul that he is.
With: Amber Tamblyn, Kate Mara, Kate Burton, Lizzy Caplan, Clémence Poésy, Treat
Williams.
"127 Hours" is rated R by the Motion Picture Association of America for
language and some disturbing violent content/bloody images. The film's
running time is one hour and 30 minutes. Be warned: the sequence where Mr.
Franco's character chooses survival is an intense and graphic one.
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