First Hit: For a film which mostly takes place in a few square feet it was very well done.
This is an amazingly difficult story to think about let alone watch. Aron Ralston (played by James Franco) is an avid climber, dirt bike rider and chance taker who enjoys his own company.
He rarely did things with people nor did tell anybody where he was going and what he was going to do. He also was an avid picture and video taker. On one of his journeys into southern Utah, he starts down into a crevasse and falls when a boulder gives away.
The boulder then lodges itself between his right forearm and the crevasse wall. Trapped he works on moving the boulder to free his forearm. Realizing that this isn’t going to happen we take the journey with Aron from the possibility of dying in the crevasse or finding a way to survive and to be free.
The process of finding a way to survive took 127 hours. During this time he rationed his water, was inventive at attempting to find ways to move the entrapping boulder, and suffered from visions of family and friends. We spend about an hour in this small space and this is where the director Danny Boyle worked some interesting magic.
I never felt as trapped as Aron did. This was an amazing feat of cinematography. To be able to experience what Aron was going through, think about my own choices between life and death, and to bring in the beauty and tragedy of the scene to crystal clear focus was very well done.
There were times towards the end of the film I had to divert my eyes. Listening to a bone break and the severing of nerves left me cringing behind by closed eyes.
Franco was beyond excellent. He created a very real event out of a very real and almost unbelievable story. Boyle did an outstanding job of giving you the full flavor and feel of this loner who, through a vision, discovered he needed to live. Not many directors could have made this film this well.
Overall: This was a difficult film to watch and an amazing story of survival. It isn’t for everyone and isn’t ordinary film fare.