127 Hours (2011)

Director: Danny Boyle

Cast: James Franco, Kate Mara, Amber Tamblyn, Treat Williams, Kate Burton

Date: January 2011

Plot: A lone canyoneer becomes trapped beneath a boulder while climbing in the baron area or Moab , Utah for 127 hours and is forced into desperate measures to try and survive.




Trailer - 127 Hours


Review: This is the incredible and true story of Aron Ralston and how he managed to survive for over 5 days in the wilds of Utah, with one arm trapped under a boulder and no help around for miles.

With a very simplistic idea and minimal cast Danny Boyle manages to reproduce the terrifying tale of one mans struggle both physically and mentally with being trapped alone in literally the middle of nowhere with little or no supplies and no hope for rescue for 127 hours.

The story works because of its simplicity, what happens if you are climbing on your own, you fall and get trapped under a boulder with no-one around for miles? How do you survive? How do you escape? How do you get help? Danny Boyle manages to use these questions to play on the fears of a lot of people to produce an exciting and nerving movie.

The scale of the film is interesting too, Tom Hanks starred in a 'one actor for 90% of a movie' movie on a much bigger budget in Castaway and Ryan Reynolds did one on a much smaller one in Buried, this though seems to sit almost in the middle. This is where I feel the movie falls short, you almost feel it either needs a cash injection to make it a proper big budget film or it needs to lose the music/flashbacks/swimming scene to make it more... I don't know "real" if you know what I mean.

Where it can stand proud is in the casting, James Franco is very brave for stepping into the realm of being just 'you and the camera'. It puts a lot of pressure and emphasis on his acting and ability to capture the audiences attention! Franco, does do well, he is likable and relatable which is what you want for this kind of role but throughout the film it always feels like you are watching a movie instead of a bringing the audience into the experience.

You could wait for the DVD release but it is one of those films which will be a talking point for the next few months. Overall I did enjoy the film, the end sequence with the real Aron Ralston was a nice touch, an above average 7 out of 10 for me.