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127 Hours (2010)

Director: Danny Boyle

Time Out rating

Average user rating

33 reviews

Movie review

From Time Out London

Danny Boyle is good at taking a grimy subject, flashing it a smile and stabbing it through the heart with a big, fat, dripping shot of adrenalin. For ‘Trainspotting’, he countered the lethargy of heroin with energetic chases through the streets of Edinburgh and the beats of Underworld on the soundtrack. For ‘Slumdog Millionaire’, he batted away all sorts of deprivation in favour of a final-scene Bollywood dance number in a Mumbai train station. When he’s not having fun with genres (‘28 Days Later’, ‘Sunshine’), he has a knack for telling tales from the real world – but doing so from countless strange angles and with endless hurried flights of fancy and imagination. Nothing and no one stays still for long in a Boyle film.

There’s little more gruesome and extreme than the story of Aron Ralston, an American outdoors nut who in 2003 went canyoning alone in Utah without telling anyone where he was going. James Franco plays the frenetic 27 year old as an experience junkie and sociable loner. He bombs through the desert on a mountain bike leaving a trail of dust behind him. He meets girls in the wilderness, makes them laugh and leaps into underground lakes with them before saying goodbye. He bounds over gulleys. Then he misses his footing, slips into a canyon and a boulder follows him down, pinning his arm to the wall just as he lands on his feet. He’s trapped, and the film’s kineticism turns in on itself: like Ralston, its energy is stuck in a hole.

From the off, Boyle winds up our nerves with split-screens, pumping music and archive inserts – and he never stops. We know, of course, that Ralston eventually escapes by carving off his arm with a penknife, so there’s a deep intake of breath when the accident happens early. Where will Boyle take us? It’s a great challenge to witness and it brings out the best in Boyle. Just don’t expect to breathe normally for some time.

Boyle focuses intensely on Ralston’s thoughts, both rational and delusional as the days pass. He tries pulleys. He tries scratching away at rock. He tries everything. Franco’s performance is a brilliant show of constrained muscularity. We see flashbacks of his relationships and realise that he has some ways to mend if he ever gets out alive. We’re stuck with Ralston, and we’re privy to his mind because he keeps record with a camcorder in his rucksuck. On top of that, Boyle uses every angle available to him, and AR Rahman’s score helps to capture and stress Ralston’s mental fragility.

The scene which all viewers will expect and dread in equal measure – the cutting of the arm – is horrific and smartly done. Boyle doesn’t sidestep the truth: we see Ralston picking through nerves as Rahman’s music records the most nightmarish of internal body screeches. But neither does Boyle draw it out unnecessarily. We share Ralston’s shock and wonder as he looks back at his bloody severed arm stuck behind the rock and, like him, wonder how it ever came to this.

‘127 Hours’ is a tough ride: not only because of the grim facts but because of the overwhelming experience of total cinema that Boyle inflicts on us to tell Ralston’s story. At the end, we stagger like Ralston from the dark into the light. We might have both our arms left, but our nerves are just as terrorised.

Author: Dave Calhoun

Time Out London issue 2107, Jan 6-12 2011

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User reviews of this film

Mike said...

Posted on Feb 23 2012 21:23 There are so many parallels in this movie and if you only want to see him cut his arm off youre gonna miss the point. Aaron figures out in that hole that the main point of his life is to be in relationships with other people and that he's been pretty selfish in his relationships already. There's a scene right after he gets out the hole and sees a painting on the wall of a group of people and he kinda smiles with the recognition that those relationships are what's important. Powerful stuff.

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Adrian said...

Posted on Nov 30 2011 10:52 This movie is horroble, the acting is so boring and you know from the start he will cut off his arm, the actor is emotionless most of time and only does "i need water faces", we have no idea about the main character untill half into the movie. Its a waste of time to watch this movie because you wont be entertained by it, the drama is shown well the inner fight i like the idea but its just so badly shown, the scener is great keeps you in the mode that makes you feel tight and you have little space, but great sceney wont save the entire movie.

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Amelia said...

Posted on Jul 18 2011 17:19 This is one of the best films i have ever seen. I can't believe it's actually a true story! Amazing! :)

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starry said...

Posted on Mar 05 2011 04:36 congrates anusha iluv u

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B21 said...

Posted on Mar 01 2011 15:25 Along with Tarantin, Boyle is probably the most overhyped director of all time. There was ample potential for a good film here but what a predictable yawnfest. I guess he's pretty popular as a mainstream director and good at making formulaic shite and is no doubt laughing all the way to the bank.

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Thomas Noctor said...

Posted on Feb 26 2011 13:20 One word 'Excellent'. How this film goes through his emotions and thoughts as he stands helplessly. This film, although a little disturbing to some, is very well made! Nice to see the real victim at the end too!

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diana said...

Posted on Feb 12 2011 12:16 i had tiers in my eyes with this fantastic film, i found the film to be so moving, and what i would do in that situation, what must of gone through his mind, how long it took for him to do what he really had to do, the pain, the anxiety, the loneliness and panic, although he didnt show that he paniced, i can say that i felt every bit of that film, and truthfuly it made me cray. loved it. good verry good, briliant. a must for all to watch.it deserves an-Oscar. what would you do in that situation,

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philmk said...

Posted on Feb 04 2011 07:50 Rich kid arrogantly fails to leave a route plan before heading out into the wilderness, has an accident and feels sorry for himself. Some heavy elaborate political point about individualism is attempted. Glad the film wasn't longer. Nice photography.

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nidgebee said...

Posted on Jan 27 2011 18:18 The music was very fitting to whole film.Being a true story made up for what could have been a boring run of the mill film.Enjoyed the film would recommended to watch if your a fun fuelled adrenalin junkie with time on your hands to kill.

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Nidgebee said...

Posted on Jan 27 2011 18:11 Like one of the other viewers comment the music was very fitting to the film.The story line was limited but they drew the plot out very well.Time lines were fine and kept you wondering what the outcome would right to the end.

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anusha said...

Posted on Jan 24 2011 08:09 I havn't watch this film yet.iam so disappointed that A R rahman has lost his golden globe award.I think v can gain more wit from this film.hoping to watch this film soon.......

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Ladybetty said...

Posted on Jan 20 2011 12:26 Having read the book when it came out a few years ago and really enjoyed it, I was amazed when I heard it was going to be made into a film - just thuoght this can't work! How wrong was I? It was superb and I'd watch it again. The music is the best part of it and makes a good film even better. Thanks Danny Boyle, keep them coming!

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Alli said...

Posted on Jan 20 2011 10:33 I absolutely loved this film, brilliantly portrayed in true Danny Boyle style, huge mind trip! Love the cinematography, warped humour, and became engrossed in the 'what if' scenario. There are a few pictures at the end of the film which hint at what has become of Aron Ralston, would have liked a little more to have been made of this but I guess it wasn't meant to be all green fields and butterflies! Anyone who has commented that 'nothing happens' clearly hasn't grasped the point of the film and the clever way that Danny Boyle has got inside the mind of Aron. Highly recommended.

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Marsellus said...

Posted on Jan 19 2011 11:53 In response to PEEJ's comment:
'Absolutely terrible... nothing really happened. He met girls, fell down a canyon and got stuck.'
That's like saying Shawshank Redemption was about some guys who sit about in prison and do nothing. Clearly you missed character development - not to mention the 'true story' aspect that gives the whole story some weight. What did you think would happen in a film about a man that 'got stuck' and had to cut his arm off?
IMO, Danny Boyle made a good film. He directed with his trademark visual flair and came up with some inventive ways of keeping the film flowing and dynamic. Also, Franco gives one of his best career performances in what must have been quite a difficult role to pull off (having to keep the audience's attention whilst sitting in one place for most of the film).

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PEEJ said...

Posted on Jan 17 2011 19:02 Absolutely terrible. To say the film was pretty long, nothing really happened. He met girls, fell down a canyon and got stuck. Drunk his urine, recorded himself, and cut his arm off. It showed no background hardly, to Aron, neither did it show any reaction to his family when he had returned. Would not recommend.

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