127 Hours Review

• 17th Jan 2011

Since the enormous success of Slumdog Millionaire chances are Danny Boyle could most probably have any project he wanted green lit.  He chose the highly intimate small scale 127 Hours telling the harrowing story of canyon enthusiast Aron Ralston having to hack off his own arm to escape being trapped after falling in Utah.

The story itself is already well known after Ralston published his account following his miraculous escape. Boyle has teamed up with Full Monty scribe Simon Beaufoy to deliver a film that is ridiculously engaging given the fact that you already know going in that he gets trapped and then has to cut off his own arm to escape.

The lead and almost only performer in the entire film is played by the superb James Franco who delivers his best performance to date in his young career. Whilst stuck in the canyon Franco delivers a full character performance that makes Ralston funny, loathsome, pitiful and loveable within the space of sixty minutes screen time.

Recalling the great Hitchcock movie Rear Window, the brilliance of this movie lies in the fact that we share Ralston’s feeling of being trapped thanks to the wonders of a cinema seat that you never get out of whilst the projector is running. The audience share his despair, his hallucinations and his fruitless attempts to escape whilst we await the inevitable. In a recent interview, writer Beafouy talked of an early test screening held in New York where the audience actually applauded and cheered once Ralston hacked off his own arm, sharing his ultimate feeling of relief and understanding that it was the only way he could survive.

127 Hours is brilliant in its simplicity in that it relies on a combination of brilliant acting, a superb script, pulsating visuals and a truly astounding soundtrack that matches every emotional peak and fall in the film. For Danny Boyle this is a remarkable triumph in the wake of such a huge critical and Oscar grabbing hit as Slumdog. He has once again dared to venture into new territory for himself and produced a stunning experience for the viewer. The only  possible criticism I could make is that I’m not sure I would have as strong a reaction emotionally the second time around, but I would have to see it again for that.

Aled Jones