Flick of The Day: 127 Hours

In April 2003, Aron Ralston, an American mountain climber and all round adventurer set off on a Saturday afternoon hike into Blue John Canyon in Wayne County, Utah. He would emerge 127 hours later, bloodied, battered and without the use of his right arm. Today's film, 127 Hours, is his story.

127 Hours

James Franco, in a tour de force performance, portrays Ralston as an arrogant adventurer with a devil may care attitude towards both his own safety and others. As the film opens, he is pounding around his home, throwing various items of kit in a backpack while a family member leaves what sounds like yet another voicemail. Crucially, he forgets his Swiss Army Knife, his hand passing over it in a dark cupboard. Soon he is on the road, travelling at night across the urban detritus that litters middle America. Neon brands polluting the night sky until eventually we reach the sparse desert landscape. The next day Aron sets off on his fateful hike, meeting two girls along the way and taking them cave diving. All the while, he exudes self assured cockiness, tripping along the canyons with abandon while listening to music and documenting his every thought on camera. The fall, when it comes, is not telegraphed and you can't help but feeling he had it coming. Those familiar with is tale will know he falls in such a way as his arm becomes trapped beneath a large rock. So begins 127 hours of struggling and fighting for survival.

This film lives or dies depending on the performance of Franco, much like Tom Hanks in Cast Away. Thankfully, like Hanks classic performance, Franco is tremendous. He carries the film with a performance that travels from arrogant ass to acceptance of his own mortality to realizing that the situation he finds himself in is entirely of his own making. Real character development like that is so rare over the course of a ninety minute or two hour film. It is to Danny Boyle's credit that he draws this performance out of Franco by keeping the camera on him and in his face for as much as possible. This is Boyle's first film since the epic and all conquering Slumdog Millionaire. It is a fine follow up and doesn't shy away from the more gruesome aspects of Ralston's escape. The amputation when it comes is gritty and brutal but very real, not at all gratuitous and credit must be given to the make-up effects artists. Everything that leads up to that point makes it obvious that there is no other choice, it is his last resort and we empathise as an audience with his loss. Contrast this with the irritating man who opened the film, it shows real growth that by the end you care for his loss.

All in all, this is an excellent and suspenseful ride into a real life adventure. Danny Boyle once again proves himself to be one of the finest directors of his generation and James Franco finally lives up to the promise of his earlier career with an excellent performance. Well worth the price of a cinema ticket.