Adventure stories are fascinating. Protagonists explore the extremes of nature with bare feet and hands, showcase amazing willpower and admirable courage, and take our breath away whenever they throw themselves into the threats and physical challenges of the wilderness. But think about an adventure movie like this: you're stuck under a rock in a canyon in eastern Utah, seemingly a light year away from any human imprints, not to mention food or a water supply.
That's the story Danny Boyle, the Oscar-winning director of "Slumdog Millionaire" sets out to tell in his new movie "127 Hours". Yes, that's the length of time a hiker's arm is pinned by an 800-pound boulder. But isn't 't that a situation virtually impossible to make cinematically interesting? For half the screen time or even more, James Franco as Aron exhausts every possible way to pry up the rock but fails time and time again.
Aron can't free his arm, but we can easily click the close button of a media player or leave the cinema with an impatient scowl. But Danny Boyle's visual mastery constantly holds people's attention. Also, as the most savvy movie goers would do in their own minds, Boyle explores Aron's predicament and options by employing such tricks as fantasy sequences, memory flashbacks, stunning depictions of nature and smart self-rescue scenes, which turn the five-day agony into a real drama.
Yet, we may feel an urge to leave the movie unfinished simply because the horrible treatment by nature is so gruesome that even a tough mind will find it hard to sit through to the end. Some close-up shots of self-amputation can absolutely take permanent residence in the Hall of Fears. So in an effort to contrast this inhuman brutality of nature, the director imbues Aron with humanity and emotions. If it were not for the moments that tell more about the adventurer's life and mind, we may neither develop an empathy with him nor understand his choice to take off solo on this expedition.
All in all, like the main character of the movie himself, who wouldn't that say Danny Boyle is also taking a big risk in his directing career? It comes as a bit of surprise to see the director pick up a story like this after "Slumdog Millionaire" in 2009, an Indian melodrama that takes credit for its twists and turns, and even boasts the genetic code of mighty Bollywood. But when it comes down to the nitty gritty, both movies carry the same optimistic spirit in face of life's despair. Perhaps the movie "127 Hours" goes the extra mile in both the predicaments one can encounter in life and the determination it takes to override such challenges.
But just get ready to take on board the intimate experience of the pains and distress suffered by the lead character. Because it's so real.
On my one to tem movie scale, I give “127 Hours” 7.5.
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