The Freak's Rating: B+ : There are ways to tell that a film was marketed poorly. Not long ago, the world learned of Aron Ralston. His story of survival set off water cooler talk for a single Monday morning, but for a few hours everyone in the world knew him. If, on that day, I had told you that Hollywood had purchased his story and was going to put an Academy Award nominated actor and an Academy Award-winning director on the project, you would have rightly looked forward to the film. Poor marketing led to 127 hours not being distributed widely and just barely making its way into the mainstream long enough for some people who had heard of its nomination for Best Picture to catch it in the theater.
James Franco gives an amazing performance as Ralston, one worthy of consideration for Best Actor. He is frighteningly accurate of showcasing true fear and courage, all in the span of an hour and a half. More than 75% of this film takes place in a single location. Without solid acting, this film goes nowhere. Direction is the other key, truly showing how alone Ralston was with sweeping shots of how vast the emptiness of his chosen area of exploration was. It is obvious Danny Boyle can retain his vision of this story throughout.
This film ultimately comes down to a 10 minute final act where the decision has been made and as an audience member, you realize what is going to happen. Though the scene where the amputation occurs is certainly one of the most difficult scenes you'll ever see, the true strength and courage of the man is what you walk away thinking about, most notably in a statement you'll go over in your head again and again, "could I do it?". It is a question I still ask daily since I saw the movie, so the impact is definitely there. Though this might be too dark a character study to make you want to see it again, it is a true tale of courage and the survival of the human spirit, and worth a see.
