Imagine this scene: You're hiking in the magnificent desert canyons of Utah, breathing in the unpolluted air of nature and crossing rocky slopes while the beat of your favorite playlist pushes you around each twist and turn. You feel stress-free, finally away from the restraints of jobs and school work. Suddenly, a boulder fractures beneath you, inducing a tumble into a bottomless crevice, and another colossal boulder crushes your hand, leaving you stranded and stuck.
This is the dilemma Aron Ralston experiences in Danny Boyle's newest film, 127 Hours. The film is based on the story of the real Aron Ralston in May 2003 in Robbers Roost, Utah. To maintain the accuracy and reality of the movie - even including a reference to Ralston's favorite band, Phish, in an early scene - Boyle worked extensively with Ralston himself.
Boyle is already known for being the Oscar-winning director of Trainspotting and Slumdog Millionaire. 127 Hours takes Boyle's career even further, bolstering his reputation for being able to craft films while preserving exceptional originality and entertainment for the viewers. This movie was the first climbing thriller I have watched that managed to elicit large doses of laughter from the audience. Instead of horrifying viewers with Ralston's story, Boyle places them behind the eyes of a quirky adventurer struggling to stay alive. The inclusion of Ralston's digital camera, which he takes everywhere, is one of Boyle's tools for getting us into the main character's head. During one memorable scene, Ralston uses the camera to reenact a game show by himself, remarking on his unbelievable predicament. Through skilled camera work and character development, Boyle directs audiences away from the realm of horror and into the adventurous world of psychological thrillers.\nOf course, none of this could have been accomplished without the magnificent presence of James Franco. Although Franco showed us his acting potential in films such as Pineapple Express and the Spiderman Trilogy, he reaches new heights in 127 Hours with his most challenging role thus far. He plays Ralston perfectly, embodying an eccentric, energetic man in the face of a situation of increasing despair. Franco's acting surpasses pure entertainment and manages to engage audiences on another level. His commanding performance effectively solidifies his status as one of the best young actors of our generation.
On top of everything else, A.R. Rahman created an outstanding soundtrack, enhancing the dramatic and suspenseful aspects of the film. The music pumps up the audience while driving the search for greater meaning behind Ralston's story. Personally, I can't get Free Blood's song, "Never Hear Surf Music Again," out of my head.
If you're searching for gut-wrenching twists, artistic entertainment, or more thrills than a roller coaster, 127 Hours will give you everything you could ever desire. The strong sense of reality in the film, a rare find in recent blockbuster thrillers, makes the movie-watching experience all the more powerful. One of the scenes was done so realistically that a few audience members at the Toronto and London film festivals apparently fainted. Clearly, the impact of the film transcends simple entertainment value. 127 Hours breaks all kinds of boundaries, simultaneously redefining the climbing movie genre and thrilling audiences around the world.
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