Review: 127 Hours (2010)

Title, Year:  127 Hours (2010)

Director:  Danny Boyle

One major problem with movies today is the lack of mystery and true emotional interaction.  The onslaught of viral information that is on the web “in your face” style would have seemed to be unimaginable just 10 to 15 years ago.  It is this hyper, plugged in mode of existence that the filmmaker Danny Boyle sprang from, having directed “Trainspotting” and “Slumdog Millionaire”.  He knows how to use music and visual images to provoke a thoughtful response.  He creates a sense that you are connected to what is going on on-screen because these elements are so powerful and resonant that you want to see what comes next. 

In ”127 Hours”, based on the life experience that Aaron Ralston chronicled in his book “Between a Rock and a Hard Place”, the outcome of the film is known before you begin – unless you have managed to avoid any and all film commentary over the course of the last year.  Aaron goes on a binge of biking and exploration through a beautiful Arizona canyon landscape and becomes trapped, his right arm pinned to a canyon wall by a bolder.  The next 127 hours of Aaron’s life are truncated to about 60 minutes on-screen. 

The film aims to paint Aaron has someone who needs no one else.  An independent spirit whose most enjoyable moments are spent alone, heading out on a hiking retreat, released from the fast food, fast moving ways of our current society.  For a brief time, Aaron comes across two young explorers, played by Kate Mara and Amber Tamblyn.  Aaron uses his knowledge of the canyon area and experience to help guide and show them some of the secrets of this magical place.  He makes a connection then sets off once more to continue his journey, alone and free to roam.

Without sharing more detail than I have to about the rest of Aaron’s journey, I will say that James Franco shines in the remaining moments of the film.  When Aaron gets stuck, you see all the emotions that one would expect.  I found myself thinking…wondering if I would be this strong, if I would be able to handle this?  When Aaron is forced to make the toughest decision, either make a dramatic sacrifice or succumb to the event, there appears to be no real choice at all.  I was rooting for him to survive.  Boyle uses images of Aaron’s past and visions of what Aaron perceives to be his future to take you into his mind and show the audience a glimpse of the thoughts he had during his nightmarish ordeal.  The result is an interactive, exciting vision of human courage.

What is evoked more than anything in this story is that what matters most in life are the connections we make; to family, to friends, to everyone we meet.  These are connections that we often take for granted, as did Aaron, with a deep regret.  What looms over the story is the fact that Aaron did not bother to tell anyone where he was going.  He chose complete isolation and thus created no possible scenario for rescue. 

“127 Hours” is about the will to survive that exists in us all.  It is about the courage that we all have within ourselves.  It is about the experience of our personal lives and how that experience is not only enhanced by the connections we make with others, but the fact that those connections are essential to our existence.