127 Hours (Review)

Survival is easier said than done. Aron Ralston can testify to that. Stuck in one place for 5+ days, with minimal water and next to no food, he was in a situation that could seemingly end in only one way: death. To him, however, this is not an option. While death crosses his mind, he never looms on it. Instead he thinks only of survival, and he realizes the only way to stay alive is to make some difficult, and ultimately brutal decisions. Danny Boyle’s 127 Hours tells his story.

James Franco plays Ralston as a free spirit of sorts, and while he may live a normal existence during the week, he spends his weekends mountain-biking across the desert and hiking through the canyons. This is where he feels at home, roaming entirely free and jumping into random crevices just because he feels like it. Suddenly, he finds himself in a most unfortunate position: he falls, and his arm ends up stuck between a rock and the canyon wall. The rock won’t budge and his arm won’t slide out. He’s stuck, and for good.

The audience feels trapped as well. It’s common knowledge that filming an entire movie in practically one location is near-suicide, but when it’s done well the result can be incredible. Boyle never backs up, keeping the camera right is Ralston’s face the entire film. Every time he moves, the audience feels it. Danny Boyle has never been one to hold anything back, and 127 Hours is no exception. Only this time, Boyle’s stylistic frosting seems to serve an ultimate purpose: we completely enter Ralston’s mind.

If you’re stuck standing in one place for 5+ days, what goes through your mind? In 127 Hours, we see it all. Ralston meditates on his past, what he has done with his life, his regrets, and ultimately what he can do with his future. They say when you’re about to die your life flashes before your eyes. That’s not true with Ralston. He’s got five days to think long and hard about it. Ralston comes close to insanity at multiple times, his sudden and random visions of a better, more comfortable environment flash suddenly and disappear just as fast.

Boyle’s direction is admirable, but the real heavy lifting is done by James Franco, who gives the purest of performances: standing still, with the camera watching. He acts with brutal emotional intensity, and any words I type would not be able to do it justice. He’s a man who enjoys living his life on the edge, and without boundaries. In just a few moments his boundaries shrink considerably, and we see a man at his most fragile, and ultimately at his bravest. Before he was faking it, but now he’s completely and utterly real. Before naming the best performances of the year, you’d best have seen 127 Hours.

It’s well-known that eventually Ralston breaks out the dull knife, and that when that scene comes it has led people at early screenings to faint. The scene is oppressive, but at the same time just about perfect. While it was his only decision, it was an ugly one, and the film depicts in the most brutal, detailed way possible. The reason the scene is so disturbing and affecting is because of what came before. 127 Hours is a shot of adrenaline, and even before the climactic knife scene I came to the realization that my heart was beating almost unhealthily fast. The story is common knowledge, but the film is always unexpected.

This is not an easy film to watch, but a vital one. It’s scope is small but the result is near-perfect, everyone involved pouring their heart and soul into every frame. 127 Hours is an experience that I wouldn’t trade for anything, but I’m debating whether I could sit through it again. This is a great film, but I would understand a viewer’s need to leave halfway through. When the lights finally came up at film’s end, I could barely muster the energy to stand up. With 127 Hours, James Franco and Danny Boyle created something that left me physically shaken.

Long sequences come and go without dialogue, just a man and his need to survive. It is not important how he can die, but how he can live. For a film’s end to have an effective catharsis, we must be presented with the lowest of lows. Not only does Ralston come close to death, he nearly succumbs. Instead, he endures, and while the process might be ugly the result is beautiful and emotionally jarring. Before this moment, Ralston was just one of us, letting life whiz by without thinking much about it. He wasn’t about to let it end so easily.

Rating:  (out of 4)