127 Hours (2010) - 3½ Stars

Can you imagine spending 127 hours trapped deep in a hole and no one knows where you are? This is the real life story of an adventuring risk taker named Aron Ralston who takes off on a hiking trip in Moab, Utah without telling anyone where he was going. While hiking, he slips, falling deep into a slot canyon where his forearm becomes trapped by a large boulder that falls in after him. With a limited water supplies and facing certain death, his desperate situation forces a choice between losing his arm and/or losing his life. Equipped only with an extremely dull pocket knife, Aron must do the unthinkable in order to escape this quite dark tomb.

I can't even imagine being in this predicament but then again, I would never go hiking like this on my own. Luckily, James Franco does a great acting job being he is really the only star of the movie. Most of the action is spent in a small crevasse focusing on the emotions of what one might mentally go through, faced in this predicament. At the end of the movie, they show the real Aron Ralston and from his appearance alone, he didn't strike me as the same arrogant mountain man as the movie portrays.

Aron Ralston (James Franco), is an experienced avid hiker. No rock formation is out of reach to explore. He sets out on a journey to rock climb in Moab, Utah. After parking his car, Aron jumps on his bike and rides it as far as he can until he has to hike the rest of the way. Along his trail he runs into Megan (Amber Tamblyn), and Kristi (Kate Mara), two lost travelers who he arrogantly lures them into a crevasse that empties them into a large underground pool. After swimming, he puts them on the correct path to where they are headed. The girls are extremely grateful and invite Aron to their party later in the evening. But as Aron confidently skips off, he steps on unsettled ground, sending him down a deep cavern where his arm becomes stuck under a large unmovable boulder. When his food and water supply ends, he does the unthinkable to see the sun shine one more day.

Awards Include:
2010 - Independent Spirit Awards - Best Male Lead
2010 - Utah Film Critics - Best Picture
2010 - AFI Film Award - AFI Movie of the Year
2011 - Nominated Academy Awards - Best Achievement in Film Editing
2011 - Nominated Academy Awards - Best Motion Picture of the Year



Pathé, Everest Entertainment, Cloud Eight Films, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
Director: Danny Boyle
Writers: Danny Boyle, Simon Beaufoy
Producers: Danny Boyle, Christian Colson, John Smithson

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