Tuesday Morning Review -127 Hours

Tuesday Morning review
127 Hours (2010) R 94 min

James Franco, whom you have seen as villains in Spiderman (Harry Osborn) and TV’s General Hospital (Franco-the serial killer) plays against type in this stirring adventure movie.

Ultimately the real star of the movie is not Franco, who has all but a few moments of screen time to his lonely self, but the canyon that traps him. Throwing every conceivable physical challenge at Franco’s character (Aron Ralston – and this is a TRUE story with the real Ralston shown at the end) the canyon is a relentless, cold-blooded killing machine that seems like it almost speaks when it tries everything to do him in.

Ralston is a shining example to the particular and peculiar new breed of adventure loner males, among whom I list my younger son Robert. If the movie serves no other purpose than to get some of these indestructible (in their minds) guys to at least leave a note as to their whereabouts then the director Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire, Trainspotting) has made a good film and a great public service announcement.

127 hours is very hard to watch in spots. The struggles to get free from the evil canyon are graphically recorded and terrifyingly bloody. Ralston had nothing but will to survive and he did what it took.

Down to the bone.

I particularly enjoyed (?) some of the inventive and unique camera angles director Danny Boyle employs. Can’t say I have ever been inside a water bottle looking at lips teeth and gums but the shots are positively pornographic. In a good sense.

A 90 minute film about someone trapped inside a canyon would be somewhat tedious, so Boyle wisely breaks up the film with flashbacks to Ralston’s boyhood and recent liaisons, badly handled. It’s heartwarming if a little predictable to see the loner turn into a family guy at the end.

Oh, and for the doubters. Yes you can drink your own pee. In fact piss when it leaves the body is sterile. You are probably better off washing your hands in it after going to the bathroom then using most of the polluted stink we get from the tap. And since high school science taught me that H20 is a closed loop, chances are you are drinking someones or somethings pee anyway. Just filtered a bit.

Cheers!