Shaun says 127 HOURS is Visually Stunning, Insightful and Achingly Human!
rating: 4
(review re-posted as 127 Hours was released in the U.K. today) In case Ryan Reynolds and Rodrigo Cortes somehow didnt sate your need for a grim one-man-show with their excellent Buried earlier this year, Danny Boyle, proving himself no slouch after his Slumdog Millionaire Oscar success less than two years ago, follows up with 127 Hours, an exhilarating, trippy, and surprisingly upbeat, slickly entertaining film about another man this time based on a true story doomed to a deeply unpleasant fate. Essentially, this is the sort of commercially tepid passion project you get to make after directing an Oscar-winning, money-spinning crowd-pleaser. In 2003, mountain climber Aron Ralston (James Franco) became precariously trapped after a boulder crashed down upon his arm in middle-of-nowhere Utah. Having not brought a phone with him nor left a note to relatives about where he was, any chance of rescue was less than zero; if he was to survive, Aaron would have to find a way to extricate himself. The grisly result of this ultimatum was that Ralston left that canyon in Utah with only one full arm, and no doubt enough bad memories to give him nightmares for the rest of his life. Though easy to compare to Buried, Boyles film is a different though not necessarily better beast altogether; touted less as a politically-hinged gimmick thriller with a minimalist aesthetic, Boyle goes almost the entirely opposite direction, rooting his film in that familiar, adrenaline-soaked Boyle style, while never escaping the situational psychology nor the aching humanity at the core of each of his films. Keenly, Boyle, in directing 127 Hours as a stream-of-consciousness travelogue of Raltons feelings and regrets as the grim tide sets, lends the story an unexpected freneticism; while the pre-title prologue is little surprising in depicting Ralston as a thrill-seeking, card-carrying member of the Red Bull generation, it is the post-accident style that is most enticing, and also most likely to divide audiences. Once Ralston is trapped under the boulder, little is muted or slowed down; in fact, so eager is Boyle to depict Ralstons story not as a maudlin, stodgy tale of torture but as a lyrical tale of inspirational survival, that he brazenly scores one scene in which Aron tries to hoist the rock off of his arm with a series of pulleys to Bill Withers feel good classic Lovely Day.
Elsewhere, the camera nor the editors finger rarely stay still for long; frequently segmenting the screen into three sections to reflect the frantic thoughts going through Ralstons mind as he contemplates his life, and otherwise, cutting to fleeting, restrained use of flashback, dreams and even visions of a potential future awaiting him, Boyles intrusion into Ralstons thoughts is not only realised with grand visual flair, but it provides a probing insight into a man who would otherwise be described as a foolhardly airhead. If the film owes a debt to any previous work, Requiem for a Dream comes to mind. Not only do both deal with devastatingly bleak subject matter (though in very different ways), but each is a knowing product of the so-called MTV generation. Aronofsky, a smarter director than his years imply, and Boyle, by now a general of cinematic precision, are both acutely aware of how deceptively lured and assured their audience is by the safety net of relentless jump-cuts and pulsing soundtracks; in each film, the cheeky aesthetic serves to lull the audience into a false sense of security, such that when the inevitably horrific moment comes, its impact is even more raw. The actual moment in which Ralston amputates his lower arm with a blunt box cutter, undoubtedly, is the films key talking point, with various festival reports citing fainting spells and walk-outs. In actual fact, the anticipation of the scene in large part thanks to just such reports is more of a heart-pounder than the scene itself, which is markedly realistic though surprisingly restained, showing not-so-much but inducing so much more dread with clever use of A. R. Rahmans soundtrack, in which a grating guitar chord is struck as Ralston struggles to cut away the nerve endings in his arm. 
The film works, ostensibly, not because of Francos nuanced performance nor Boyles visually sumptous direction, but because of the human element, because Boyle does a stellar job of placing the viewer in Ralstons shoes and asking what would you do? While it is neither here nor there that most people are not idiotic enough to leave the house as unprepared for disaster as Ralston was Boyle never asks us to like Ralston, though Franco is an innately charming fella, which helps the gut-wrenching nature of the accident only naturally makes us consider our own chances in such a situation. However, instead of causing us to consider the grim practicalities of removing an arm, Boyle cites that, while we may bungle the tourniquet or succumb to dehydration, it is the seemingly indomitable will to live eked out by the meaningful connections forged with those around us that just might save us in the end. While Ralstons story has countless biblical similarities a fact that Boyle denies was intentional 127 Hours is ultimately about a man wrestling with his own hubristic mode of living, and paying a price for it, but living. 
James Franco makes a serious step up as an actor here, displaying Raltons carefree vigour while channeling enough likeability that we ultimately want him to get out alive. An Oscar nomination is likely, though with a crowded field and youth working against him, he may have to make way for Colin Firth this time. Of the film itself, Boyles frantic style which makes his previous work seem like Satantango played at half-speed makes him a dubious Best Director nominee, and similarly, the Editing may simply be too disorientating for the predominantly older Academy members to tolerate. Presently, it should have Best Cinematography in the bag, and A.R. Rahmans score has a solid chance too. Though I suspect it will be relegated to a similar stature as last years brilliant A Serious Man in garnering a few nominations, including Best Picture, but winning nothing this is a scintillating and unforgettable portrayal of overcoming the odds and the importance of keeping a cool head. 127 Hours opens in the U.K. on January 7th.