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USA, UK 2010
Director: Danny Boyle
Cast: James Franco, Kate Mara, Amber Tamblyn, Clémence Poésy, Lizzy Caplan, Treat Williams
Rating: R
Release Date: 28 January 2011 (USA); 12 February 2011 (Indonesia: Midnight); 18 February 2011 (Indonesia)
Running Time: 1 hour 34 minutes
The Movie Review
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One of the risks of adventure is likely to give away your life in that new place. Sometimes, there are trip, or holiday or vacation that we're going to regret for the rest of our life just because we make the wrong decision. Sometimes, the advertising for that place is utterly bullsh*t and misleading, but sometimes the area itself is already prone to danger. On the latter case, you only got yourself to question. Aron Ralston has got many things he questioned when he's literally stuck in his adventure. 127 Hours is an action adventure motion picture based on a real experience of Aron Ralston that he wrote on his autobiography titled Between a Rock and a Hard Place telling the accounts when he's trapped in the vast Blue John Canyon with no one else to help him.
Aron Ralston (James Franco) is a thrill-seeker kind of guy, although working as an engineer, he loves travelling, biking and canyoneering through the breath-taking Canyonlands. Can also be considered as a solitary person, Aron loves going on an adventure alone. He often dodges the calls from his loved ones probably because he's too indifferent at times. On 25 April 2003, he ventures to the Blue John Canyon in Utah which he seemingly knows the area very well --he even acts as an emergency tour guide for two lost female hikers, Megan (Amber Tamblyn) and Kristi (Kate Mara)-- However, Aron will not be prepared when he has to fight for his own way home when he suddenly stuck in the middle of the massive and vast canyon. Aron is going to endure a severe nightmare...
12 February 2011, 127 Hours was finally screened as a part of Midnight Shows in Jakarta and was available widely in the 18th. I had heard quite a lot about it, but no matter what, any movie based on true survival stories always intrigue me. This drama film is opened with a very upbeat and cool music by the famous composer A.R. Rahman and displaying pictures after pictures of how busy people are in the whole world and how hectic the situation is. The opening scene is a perfect setup to shake moviegoers' mind because viewers are gonna feel the difference much stronger when seeing how lonely Aron is without any single person around him.
Actually what Aron had been through in terms area-coverage is not wide, we are basically just follow the drama of him being trapped beneath the canyon. And to spice things up, the writers gives several scenes pertaining Aron's hallucination, his wigging out moments, his childhood memories and even his dreams and nightmares. Although the real footage of real Aron Ralston does contain his hallucinating process, but these scenes feel a little bit over-stylized. If not for the good combination of James Franco's excellent acting skill, great choice of music and emotional camerawork, there are many minutes in 127 hours that would be a sure yawner.
But since this is based on true survival story of Aron, the screenwriters were limited to improvise, and it's a good thing, because at least we're seeing the real version of his dreadful experience, and it means the filmmakers were pretty much honest when pertaining to agony scene. Apparently the secret pool scene with the two girls are non-existent in the real story but I honestly like it for giving some sense of drama. What I complain the most about the movie is the lack of true isolation. Touching the Void (2003) is a good example of a very thrilling movie about survival with an overwhelming sense of hopelessness. The drama in 127 Hours sometimes misses... Open Water (2003) is also based on true survival story at the sea, the movie feels more emotional than 127 Hours, although thanks to the drama between the 6 characters. Cast Away (2000), featuring Tom Hanks, is a wonderful example of a single person's survival, but it avoids being boring because there are many things that Chuck Noland (Tom Hanks) could do (But Cast Away this is after all a fictional work), thus makes its long running length of almost two and half hours feel shorter.
Nevertheless, there are a lot of things that would amaze and shock casual viewers in 127 Hours (especially those who rarely read about survival stories or see true survival movies). But even for seasoned moviegoers, there is one very-very graphically sickening scene that has been created in such scrupulous details that I bet will make most people close their eyes, although still inferior to the awesome Frozen (2010) with reports of multiple faintings! Anyhow, that said scene in 127 Hours features Aron to do "special sacrifice" to survive and with (again) the dramatic music, the ending is very good and dramatic. And the ending is what really counts! I suggest for you to go seek 127 Hours as it's really engaging.
> The fictional thriller version of Canyoneering gone awry: The Canyon (2009).
© iwan pranowo of Movielogy.com
Twitter: @movielogy
posted: Saturday, 19 November 2011 01:35 am
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