Wouldn’t we all like to have one week of adventure? To travel on the open road, to leave the stress of our lives back at home, to be alone with only nature, God and our essence to occupy our entertainment and sense of being. Aron Ralston (James Franco) felt just that while biking and hiking in the canyons in Utah. He meets some new friends, breath in the sun’s radiance and tries to break distance with time record to tourist locations. During a hike, Aron slips and falls down a hole with a large boulder following behind impelling his hand to the mountain. He has limited water, food and sanity as he attempts different strategies of freedom as days and strength passes him by. Will someone walk by and rescue him? Will he lose his sanity and resort to drastic measures? Will he give up and die?
Review: Before this movie came out, it had massive positive reviews hailing James as playing a fantastic role as Aron. In my opinion, it was okay but others gave it too much hype. I believe when it comes to a character role where the actor is alone in a dangerous situation, the award goes to Ryan Reynolds from “Buried.” He did such a great job (read my review on Buried for why). Anyway, my favorite scene in the movie was when Aron falls down the hole and notices that his hand is stuck. The look on his face is priceless, filled with various emotions of fear and panic. I loved it. After that the movie was average, meaning there really wasn’t anything the director can do to make me rate it five stars, it was just average. All in all, I won’t see this film again.
I don’t think you give this film enough credit. James Franco’s work in 127 Hours is brilliant and the cinematography is beautiful. The editing is creative and stylistically original, and the narrative was compelling. Definitely one of the finest films of the year, if not the best.
you are absolutely right Matt, check out my review for the film.
FYI Matt and Daniel, having a character cut off his arm and have multiple hallucinations doesn’t qualify for film of the year. What qualifies is originality such as Inception. But if you want to see a good movie with a single character in a dangerous situation, watch Buried. In MY opinion- which is what a critic gives- this movie deserves the credit I gave it. 2 1/2 stars. All debates aside, I really do appreciate your comments, thank you.
It’s not brilliant enough to match something like Inception for sure but it is however very much on par with a film like Buried.