127 HOURS (Danny Boyle). For venues, trailers and times, see Movies. Rating: NNNN
You wouldn’t expect a filmmaker as kinetic as Danny Boyle to make a movie about a man trapped under a boulder in a Utah canyon – but the conceptual challenge is probably what drew him to the material in the first place.
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Telling the story of Aron Ralston, who battled dehydration and desperation for the eponymous span of time before hitting on a particularly horrible solution, Boyle brings his usual flair to the action, jumping into flashbacks, fantasies and hallucinations to give the movie some shape.
It’s the cinematic equivalent of restless leg syndrome, but it serves to convey Ralston’s unravelling state of mind. In a compelling solo turn, James Franco turns his natural charisma and playfulness into character flaws, showing us how Ralston’s overconfidence and casual approach to mountaineering put him in harm’s way – and how he redeemed those flaws with ingenuity and a powerful will to live.
And the climax is exactly as gruelling as you’ve heard.
