127 Hours

We all remember Aron Ralston. And if you don't specifically remember his name you at least remember that there was a guy who got his arm caught under a boulder and he had to cut it off. You may be saying "that's a paper thin premise for a movie" and you'd be right. So since we all know the story already and it seems like a mammoth challenge to stretch that story into a whole movie, it would have to be extremely well directed and acted in order to work.

Just in case you were totally lost when you read that first paragraph, “127 hours” is about a rock climber named Aron Ralston who gets his arm caught under a boulder and was trapped for four days. He miraculously survived after he cut his own arm off. It may sound like I just spoiled the whole movie for you but I didn't. While the story is indeed compelling, the film is more so even if you know what's coming. James Franco deserves a nomination for something for this movie. It's always fascinating when one actor can hold your attention for an entire ninety minutes. The directing is good; Danny Boyle is a great director and he does a lot with a seemingly small story. I had been hearing for a long time how nauseating the limb removal scene was, and to be honest it isn't that bad. It is gross, but there are actually very few shots of the arm. What makes it gross is the amount of blood that's seen and Franco's reaction. It's a stylized moment, which is wise, like "psycho" it gives the audience room to imagine worse horrors than are displayed on screen.

The real Aron Ralston is the craziest mother fucker on the face of the earth. A situation like that could only occur to someone like him, and is only survivable by someone like him. What possesses someone to do any kind of extreme sport is beyond me. But without people like him there wouldn't be great stories like his to tell. This movie is one of the best of the year so far.