Hi, boyfriend.
Major James Franco crush aside, this is one of the best and most OVERWHELMING movies I’ve seen in a long time. I laughed, I cried, I almost barfed. It was quite a production.
127 Hours dramatizes the true story of Aron Ralston, the mountain climber who gets trapped in Blue John Canyon in Utah after a boulder falls on his arm, pinning him to the canyon wall. Sucks, right? Most people know what happens. To free himself, Aron amputates his arm with a dull knife on a tool he luckily happened to have with him after 5 days of being stuck. It’s truly incredible.
So one might wonder how the hell you make a full-length movie out of this. Director Danny Boyle has it covered. From beginning to end I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen, even during the most gruesome part where many people in the theater were turning away in disgust. But all I could keep thinking was, “Keep going! Oh, sick! You can do it! I can’t keep looking at this! But I HAVE to!”
It was a pretty “artsy” looking movie, too. The opening credits played the jammy “Never Hear Surf Music Again” by Free Blood while showing simultaneous panels of Aron get on his way, grabbing supplies, ignoring a call from his mother and just out of reach of his Swiss army knife in the overhead cupboard (FORESHADOWING!). As he drives to the canyon, Aron is thrilled to be going on his journey and maybe even a little bit cocky about it. But it’s a charming kind of cocky of course which is particularly evident when he “guides” two gals he meets to an amazing lagoon that can be reached by sliding through two canyon walls above. Now that’s something I would wanna try.
Shortly after Aron leaves the girls, he finds himself in his predicament and this is where I wondered where the film was going to go. Using his camcorder to record his progress and ultimately film his farewell to his family and loved ones, we’re able to see what’s going through Aron’s mind as he eventually reaches his final option.
The panels of different things going on is used several times in the movie and I thought it was pretty effective. I think it got my heart rate up too during intense parts, but it was a stressful film in general to watch. There was a great score, too that really amped up some of the scenes. (Especially when Aron strikes the nerve endings in his arm with the knife and the music spiked — that attention to detail didn’t go unnoticed by me.)
Surprisingly, the movie wasn’t all doom and gloom. Franco is absolutely hilarious in parts and on the flip side he shows true fear, anger and frustration. The guy carries the movie entirely by himself, with a few flashback scenes featuring others, but it’s very much the Franco show. I’ll be pissed if he’s not nominated for Best Actor (and even more pissed if he doensn’t ask me to be his date, but that’s another story.)
GO SEE IT — if you have the stomach for it. Apparently some people have fainted while watching it because the amputation scene is pretty spot-on if you know what I mean.
You’re Back!!!! I hope you stick with it. I’d like to see this movie, but it will have to be on a business trip or once it hits pay TV – Dorinda can’t take this kind of thing. This flick sounds comparable to “Into the Wild”. If you haven’t seen that one, you might want to get a copy to compare and contrast. I thought it was a pretty good movie.
Yes! I was going to Facebook you about it the other day, but I know you were dealing with the loss of Chico so I thought I’d wait for a better time. But I’m glad you checked. I’m going to try my best to update as often as I can so keep reading
Yeah, definitely give this a watch. It was the best movie I’ve seen all year.