"It's me. I chose this. I chose all this. This rock... this rock has been waiting for me my entire life. It's entire life, ever since it was a bit of meteorite a million, billion years ago.."

Introduction

127 hours is the film representation of the real life story of Aron Ralston and his mountaineering trip to Moab in Utah. The film was released towards the end of 2010 and is based on Ralston's autobiography Between a Rock and a Hard Place. It is described as a biographical drama film. It was produced and directed by Oscar winner Danny Boyle. It currently has a rating of 7.8/10 from 110,061 users on IMDB. I saw this the other day when it was on television so this is a film only review.

Plot

Aron Ralston (James Franco) is the main character we see throughout the film. He loves the outdoors and mountain climbing in particular. In April 2003, he plans a trip to Blue John Canyon in the secluded region of Moab in Utah. He sets out on a Saturday and he does not tell anyone about his trip before leaving. He meets two other fellow trekkers along the way, Kristi and Megan. He spends some time with them before moving on again on his own. After getting to Blue John Canyon disaster strikes as he falls down a crevice with a small boulder and gets near to the bottom of the crevice virtually unharmed, but with his right hand wedged between the boulder and the crevice wall. He is stuck and there doesn't seem to be anybody around to help him. As his rations of water run out he becomes more and more desperate in his quest for survival. During this time he also recalls moments with family and friends as well as a recent romantic relationship which turned sour. He also films himself during this time with his handycam and uses this as a tool for self reflection. He spends five days in his desperate predicament before he feels he has to resort to drastic measures.

Overall opinion

This is a very good film with a well cast leading actor in the shape of James Franco. It is also well shot and this is in quite large part due to producer and director Danny Boyle as well as the cinematography department. The important moments in the film as well as the setting are captured well. The film keeps you interested as you wait to see what happens next. It has a good pace to it also. The music is also something that works well with the film. It is not surprising that it was nominated for six academy awards including best picture and best actor for Franco.

It is essentially a film about a guy stuck to a rock but it is a lot more than that as you can see when watching. It captures the idea of how things can rapidly change in an instant. It also has plenty of self reflection from Ralston as he comes to terms with his predicament. It has one gruesome scene which may not be for those of a squeamish nature but is otherwise free of this. Overall it is highly recommended and I would give it 4 out of 5 dooyoo stars overall.

Directed by: Danny Boyle

Produced by: Christian Colson
John Smithson
Danny Boyle

Screenplay by: Danny Boyle
Simon Beaufoy

Based on: Between a Rock and a Hard Place by
Aron Ralston

Starring: James Franco

Music by: A. R. Rahman

Running time: 94 minutes