127 Hours (Danny Boyle, 2010) Review

There is something wrong when EVERYONE knows what happens in the end of the film. That's partly due to being based on a true story...and that everyone spoiled the ending anyway when this film came out. There are also several films in which it sort of makes you wonder what you would do in that situation...I always end up dead for some reason. Anyway, let's see what is arguably Danny Boyle's least disturbing film...not that that's saying much...if anything.

Aron Ralston (James Franco) is a young mountain climber who's life takes a turn for the worse when he falls down a chasm, finding his arm wedged between the side of the chasm and a giant boulder. Aron now finds himself stuck there for five days in which he not only has to try to stay alive but also has to keep his sanity.

I hear a lot of people telling me that this is a very boring film (except that bit everyone knows...*shudder*) but clearly they don't care about emotional or character. The point of the film is to show how one person deals with a life-threatening situation. I love this because it means that the film has a lot of focus and therefore we therefore are more engaged with what happens to a person who we grow to appreciate over the course of the five days...even better considering that Aron Ralston does exists which makes the film that much more deep.

Of course it has Danny Boyle's dark style, specifically in terms of humour. I never thought I'd see a film where Scooby-Doo can be used as a jump scare (makes sense in context) and the scene where he pretends to be doing a talk show is tragically hilarious. It offers for a lot of mixed emotions for the audience that kind of makes me feel bad at times. All I can say is that this is a very focused film and it leaves me with satisfaction.

127 Hours has the biggest problem in that everyone already knows what happens. If you don't know what happens (all...1 one of you) then I would recommend you watch this before looking more into it so that you get a raw reaction which is, in my opinion, the best kind of reaction (spoilers are the worst things ever). It made my skin crawl but I enjoyed the rest due to it's focus on...having a focus.

Verdict:
8/10
A well put together deep look at isolation and what lengths someone will go for freedom.