Harrowing drama concerning a devil-may-care, mountain climber who tries to save himself after a boulder crashes down on his arm. The true account of what happens to Aron Ralston in an isolated Utah canyon is an inspirational triumph of the human spirit. Director Danny Boyle fleshes out the chronicle with flashbacks and dream sequences that display Aron’s mental process while he is trapped. The exploration of his mind lays the foundation for his drive to stay alive. There’s jump cuts, split screens, rock music and all of it is blended together in kind of a MTV razzle-dazzle video depicting a tragedy. The story is rather conceptual. Yes, it is consistently fascinating, but it also fails to motivate as greatly as a plot with a stronger narrative. The film has pretty much gotten universal acclaim and while it is good, I found it hard to get passionate about “an action movie in which the hero doesn’t move”. I was impressed by 127 Hours, but only mildly entertained.
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5 Responses
What about James Franco’s performance? I hear it’s pretty legendary. I’m not gonna lie, I’m dying to watch this movie. I’m ready to cry my eyes out…
He’s good at playing an athletic, thrill-seeker. Once he’s trapped, most of the action is in his head and there’s not a lot of talk. It relies mostly on facial expressions. I thought he gave more of a ‘performance’ in the films Pineapple Express and Milk.
Oh, I see. Well, I loved him in both films, particularly PE.
I rated the film higher (4.5/5), but agree that Boyle’s stylistic tricks were occasionally annoying, although I can’t mark it down too much since it’s expected with him. Franco was definitely fantastic here.
Very disappointed. I expected this to be my movie of the year, but it fell way short. James was great, but there just wasn’t enough excitement for me.