MESSAGE IN THE MOVIES

127 Hours Rated R

Directed by Danny Boyle.  Starring James Franco, Amber Tamblyn.

Photo © 2011 Fox Searchlight
Movie Review by Rev. Bruce Batchelor Glader

 By now, you no doubt know that 127 Hours is “that movie about the guy who cuts off his arm”. 

You also know that James Franco gives a great performance as Aron Ralston, the young engineer and happy-go-lucky mountaineer who found himself trapped, alone, in a canyon, with his arm immobilized by a heavy boulder.

And you have probably already decided whether or not you want to see this film.  But, just in case you’re undecided, let me encourage you to give it some consideration, for the real star of this film isn’t James Franco (as good as he is), but writer-director Danny Boyle and his imaginative filmmaking. 

He takes a situation of extended solitude and then makes it engrossing, suspenseful and even humorous by using every trick in the book: flashbacks, foreshadowing, remembrances, fantasy, imaginative camerawork and special effects. 

The film is something of a stunt, but Danny Boyle pulls it off, with the cooperation of the same screenwriter, cinematographer and composer he used for 2008’s Slumdog Millionaire.

 The film is never boring and often very entertaining. If you enjoy film as an art form, this is one to see. 

127 Hours is also an interesting meditation on life and the things that are worth living for.  I’m not sure that I agree with those who say that the film is a spiritual journey (Ralston is too self-reliant to have much time for God), but it is inspiring, nevertheless. 

[If you do plan to see it in a theater, be sure to enjoy your popcorn during the first half-hour, which will give it another 40 minutes or so to settle in your stomach before the hacking begins.]

Pitchfork/Halo Ratings:
Two halos.
This impressive story of survival is also an interesting experiment in film.
Two pitchforks.
For implied sexual themes and gory self-mutilation, and some gross (but understandable) methods of survival

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