Review by Loc
There’s a lot of things on the manly scale: owning power tools, driving obnoxiously large/fast cars, getting lost and refusing directions in said cars, playing sports after being inactive for years, getting injured from playing said sports, all manner of masculine idiocy to embrace or mock depending on your point of view. But really, let’s get out of the clichés and gender-based paradigms. Let us consider survival skills and instincts. Would you, for example, cut off your arm to live? Probably, right? Would you do it after having it trapped under a boulder, after reaching the edge of your resources from five days of solitary existence, and having only a dulled multi-use tool to do the deed…on yourself? Knowing you would still need to scale down a mountain cliff and hike another ten miles to find help? Quick hit: this flick shows you that the manly meter has a dial that goes up to 11.
127 Hours recounts the near-mythic, but true story of Aron Ralston. A canyoneer who found himself in a life-and-death predicament after venturing alone in Blue John Canyon in Utah, Ralston embodied the free-spirit adventurer to cliché levels. All of those pretenses washed away when Ralston explored a deep crevice to disastrous results. Hopping on an unstable rock, he dislodged the small boulder and fell deeper into the earth. Unfortunately, that was the least of his problems as the dislodged rock tumbled with him and lodged itself further below, catching Ralston’s right arm in the process and pinned him in place.
What followed was a harrowing story that pushed Ralston to the absolute limits of sanity and forced him to question the value of life. For five days, Ralston conserved his limited resources like water and food. He worked through various self-rescue scenarios, from constructing pulley systems to chipping away at the boulder with his multi-use tool. Lastly, he found himself chronicling his experiences with his camcorder and digital camera. In the end, Ralston was forced to consider extreme measures to overcome his predicament.
Danny Boyle directs the cinematic translation, he of Slumdog Millionaire fame. Boyle’s body of work seems to grow steadily with impressive results. He’s the mind behind Trainspotting, The Beach, 28 Days Later, Sunshine, and the Oscar darling Millionaire. Now, he’s receiving tremendous acclaim with 127 Hours as well.
While the film is very good, it doesn’t do quite enough to attain that transcendent level of creativity. It moves quickly, which is both a good and a bad thing. Good because you’re mostly interested in the unfolding story, but bad as it doesn’t build as much tension as you might expect from the predicament. The mix of visuals is good and a staple in Boyle films. There are scenes that feature multiple camera displays across the screen, there are scenes that give unique perspectives, like the interior of a water bottle or camelback tube, and there are dream sequences that create a surreal feel to match the character’s state of mind.
Yet, the film isn’t as captivating if you’re familiar with the material. This may be unavoidable, but to be honest, the Dateline special delved just as deep into the story and produced more of an emotional connection to Ralston than this film. The entire experience is distilled to specific “highlight” moments, which works to keep one entertained, but misses in creating a true connection to Ralston.
In the acting department, James Franco checks in as the titular Ralston, delivering a solitary performance that has critics favorably comparing it to Tom Hanks turn in Cast Away. Franco has been taking on more obscure choices of late: taking a small role in the daily soap opera General Hospital, publishing a collection of short stories, and holding an art showing. Franco seems comfortable appearing in blockbusters like the Spiderman franchise, but he doesn’t seem to be solely focused on appearing in the big budget extravaganzas. Thus, his turn in 127 Hours offers another outlet to do more than your average leading man role.
Within the first minutes of the film, you see a fully realized Ralston interacting on film. Franco does a great job of embodying a new persona with his performance. From the happy-go-lucky guy to the suddenly panic-stricken survivor, Franco manages to do the hardest task in acting: he never looks like he’s trying to be Ralston, he simply becomes the hiking legend. This is most evident as Ralston faces the desperate days after being trapped. For many actors, this would have become a performance about expressing the physical trauma and emphasizing the dire situation. Franco eschews this by delivering a performance rooted deeply in the individual and focuses on how Ralston reacted to the situation.
Overall, this is a solid film to watch. The 94 minute running time moves briskly, but seems a little short. Give us another 20 minutes that allows us to see more of the solitude and desperation, and you have a film that creates a higher level of tension to keep audiences on the edge of their seats. Franco is great in the role, even if the film never strays above solid. The results of the ordeal are mostly known, so the key to creating a film is producing a compelling story to follow. While this film does provide an entertaining journey, it doesn’t provide a deeper resonance to Ralston or his plight. Out of 500 mL of water, 127 Hours surives on 350 mL. Full disclosure: if faced with this predicament, I’d be dead, goodnight.
Rated: 7/10
