OSCARWATCH 2011 - 127 Hours

127 Hours tells the true story of Aaron Ralston (James Franco), a mountain climber who had to take extreme measures to survive after being pinned down by a loose boulder while canyoneering. The movie starts out at a quick pace, with loud music as a soundtrack to Ralston's extreme ways - we see him running the trails, not just hiking, and mountain biking with vigor and intensity. It's obvious this guy knows what he's doing and loves taking things to the extreme. But as we find out later, he is so confident in his abilities, he has not told anyone where he was going. That adds to his predicament once he gets pinned by the boulder, because then his escape is ultimately a race against time.

I think the film does a great job with it's pacing, especially with the flashbacks and hallucination sequences. Out of the 90 minute movie, there's only about 20 minutes where Aaron is not trapped. Now that could be seen as a hindrance, one actor in a small space with not much in terms of action that can be done to engage the audience. But Franco gives us a wonderful performance, we see in him such true reactions to this situation. We see a man slowly deteriorating but finding the strength to survive, no matter what he has to do in order to free himself.

The scenes where Ralston is talking into his camcorder are some of the best of the film as well. This is where Franco is his best, speaking to loved ones about his plight, as well as his love for them. They are very moving sequences, and I wondered while watching if Ralston actually had a camera with him while he was trapped, or if that was something made up by Hollywood as an element of engagement. So I looked it up, and it's true — Ralston actually had a camcorder with him and made videos to his family. He shared those videos with Director Danny Boyle and James Franco before shooting began on this movie. I'm sure those were very haunting to see, and also may be part of the reason Franco was able to tap into the performance so well.

The way this movie is shot is definitely interesting. It cuts very quickly a lot of times, and many shots while Ralston is trapped are quite choppy, but I think that actually adds to the desperation of the situation. Many times we see the despair happening in the canyon crevice juxtaposed by a wide shot of the outside, to show just how far out of help's way Aaron was trapped.

And obviously with a movie like this, I found it very hard to watch at times, especially during the scene in which Aaron frees himself by cutting off his own arm. But that's the reality of the situation. Ralston had to make that decision to save his own life. It's an amazing story of survival, and Boyle made a lot of great choices in his filming to give it a realistic feeling. The audience really sees the transformation of a man as he fights to remain alive.

The only problem for me was something that could not be solved, due to the nature of the story. And that's just the fact that I got uncomfortable watching every little action Ralston was taking while he was trapped. And I feel like a jerk for saying it, but I got a bit bored a couple times while watching. Not because the story isn't powerful, or the film was not well made. It may be just because in today's society we are used to so many things going on at once -- I saw a guy on an exercise bike the other day, watching the built in TV, but also watching something on his i Pad which was propped up on the bike, AND typing on his blackberry. In a world like that I guess a story of one man alone in a canyon can seem a bit simple. But that being said, I think it's a testament to this powerful story, great acting by Franco, and wonderful direction that the film is as engaging as it is.

Not sure if it will win any Oscars tonight, but it is a very well done film.

Rating:

4 out of 5 on the Marci scale.