"127 Hours" Movie Review

I apologize for the lateness of this. I saw this film and wrote this review well over a month ago and just realized I had never published it. But just to keep some content flowing, and to help out those who are in need of a good film to watch, and to celebrate the Golden Globe nods (and snubs) for this film.

127 Hours: A-

Danny Boyle is something of a genius. The Slumdog Millionaire director managed to make a full-length film out of one man being pinned to a wall for five days. The film 127 Hours is based on the true story of hiker Aron Ralston, whose arm gets pinned in between a boulder and the wall of a cliff, rendering him trapped for five days with a very limited supply of food and water. The film shows off Boyle’s intricate signature of bright colors, varying angles, stunning racing visuals, and his love for AR Rahman.

In the picture, based on Ralston’s book, Between a Rock and a Hard Place, Ralston (portrayed by the intense, unavoidably lovable James Franco) takes a journey through Blue John Canyon near Moab, Utah in April 2003. With a ballsy spirit, he decides to tell absolutely no one where he is going. In a heart-stopping moment, Ralston comes across a loose part of the cliff, which sends him barreling down the cave…and the rock right on top of him. We watch Ralston keep himself surprisingly calm as he tries several ways to free his crushed arm, including chipping away at it with a dull knife to no avail.

Boyle creates a fabulous sense of being there as we observe a man breaking down before our eyes, forced to drink his own urine, record a visual obituary and, eventually, cut off his own arm to free himself. The gut-wrenching moments when Ralston’s water spills, when he’s forced to break his own bones and pop his veins, and the subtle sigh of relief when he is finally free ,will surely stay with you for a long time. The film will leave you appreciating little things you take for granted such as water, food, sunlight, even the ability to masturbate. It opens for wide release on November 19, 2010. Warning: this movie is NOT for the squeamish.