127 Hours

By josh

What drastic measures have you ever taken to keep yourself alive? I remember one time I was so hungry I had to mix what was left at the bottom of four different cereal boxes, and use my roommate’s skim milk. Ugh, it was awful, but when put in that position, the will to survive takes over and does what it needs to do. Like in May of 2003, when Aron Ralston had to amputate his own arm after getting it stuck under a boulder while hiking in the mountains outside of Moab, UT. After spending five days stuck in a canyon, after running out of water and being forced to drink his own urine, Aron did the unthinkable, and hacked through his own flesh with a dull pocket knife, climbed the rest of the way out of the crevice he had nearly accepted as his tomb, and luckily ran into a Dutch family on vacation, who later called for help. An amazing story on its own, it’s getting the big screen treatment, with Oscar winning director Danny Boyle, and James Franco in the lead role.

The clip starts out fun enough. Sure, Aron could probably call his mom a little more often, but look at all the fun he’s having. He’s mountain biking and he, oh wait, he’s down – is his arm okay? It is? Well, anyone can survive a little spill. Now it’s on to rock climbing, and look, he found two cute girls to go canyoneering with; who could argue with, oh wait – he fell. Is he….nope, he just fell into an underground pool. Guess it’s time to have an intimate swim with his two new lady friends. And then it’s off again, on another adventure, because you said it yourself, Aron – you can do everything on…your…own……

Every so often a movie comes out that is just so mesmerizing, and so enthralling, that it wraps around us and sucks us in. This could be one of those movies. Boyle is a phenomenal director, first breaking out with Trainspotting in 1996, and it’s clear age hasn’t mellowed his edge. A director who knows his audience, he unapologetically took on heroin culture, sent us on a zombie chase with 28 Days Later, reignited the sun in the underrated and underseen Sunshine, and got the world talking with Slumdog Millionaire. Boyle has proven time and time again that he is an auteur that deserves to be given carte blanche, who can deftly handle just about any topic, and any genre.

Not to mention James Franco. You could’ve written him off after the first Spider-Man movie, starring in a mix of mainstream stinkers (Annapolis, Flyboys), and weirdo picks, like the stoner in Pineapple Express, and that bizarre guest turn on ‘General Hospital.’ But anyone could tell that Franco was buzzing about, and after out-of-the box roles in Milk and Howl, he is now primed and ready to sink his teeth into a real role, and if that guttural scream from the trailer is any indication (not to mention the people passing out in the theater), we are going to see some real acting fireworks in this one.

So, will it suck?

No, absolutely not. Boyle is fresh off his Slumdog Oscar and Franco has paid his dues and honed his craft, and that makes for the perfect storm. When we first heard Boyle was making a movie about Ralston’s ordeal, we were skeptical, and concerned about Franco filling a screen in what could’ve been 127 hours of being stuck under a rock. But, we trust Boyle’s direction, and after seeing the trailer, feel guilty we ever doubted him. The youth culture backed by edgy directors has finally hit its apex, as you can be sure that 127 Hours will be joining The Social Network on the ballot come Oscar time, and make no mistake Franco will be garnering a nod in the acting category as well, in a role any young up-and-comer would give their right arm for.