127 Hours Review

"There is no force on earth more powerful than the will to live"

That is the last line from the trailer for this biopic about Aron Ralston, and how true that proves to be in this case.

In my opinion James Franco deserves an unbelievable amount of credit for his role as Ralston. Being able to hold the screen on your own for the best part of an hour is not easy, but he conveys the struggle and downward spiral into almost insanity excellently.

The real Aron Ralston has only showed his video diaries from his days trapped in the Blue John canyon to close friends and family, but James Franco and Danny Boyle were allowed to see them for the purposes of making the movie as real as possible. Ralston himself says that the film is as close to a documentary as possible while still being a drama.

At just over an hour and a half long, i didnt think it felt particularly long or drawn out, as the time passed quickly. However, if it had been longer i think it may have lost people's interest as there is only so many ways to show a man losing his mind while being stuck in the same location.

Possibly one of my favourite scenes from a film for a very long time comes when Franco is making a video recording while pretending his is on a radio show. The clever use of camera work and voice acting making it clear when it is Aron the mountain climber talking, or when it is the host of the show. He is self depricating and humble, apologising to his mother for not answering the phone to her and admitting he would not be in that situation if he had told someone where he was, calling himself a "hard hero". This scene serves to show how low his mentality has sunk, and also that he is changing because of the situation he finds himself in.

My major issue with the film is the overuse of split screen. I didn't think it necessary, effective or even good to watch! With this in mind, 127 hours is still an emotional drama which is well worth the watch.