Review: 127 Hours (Boyle, 2010)
November 21st 2010 03:18
127 Hours (Boyle, 2010)
Written November 20, 2010
If you know anything about Aron Ralston, or if you’ve at least read a summary of 127 Hours, then you know what you will eventually witness on screen. The knowledge, however, does not prepare you for the actual event. When this particular scene occurs, it’s still jarring, still horrific, and utterly surreal for the mere reason that it actually happened. With cinematic adaptations of true stories, we come to expect embellishment; in this particular instance, there was none. For this one scene in particular, 127 Hours does what it sets out to. The rest of the film, however, suffers from questionable choices by director/screenwriter Danny Boyle lending to an overall uneven film.
James Franco stars at Ralston, a rather cocky and somewhat obnoxious adventure-seeker. Ralston, an engineer, considers hiking in canyon’s his second home. He sets goals for himself, such as breaking a record of biking across the canyon surface, and utilizes his handheld camera to record his feats. On a fateful day in April 2003, he heads to Blue John Canyon without informing anyone where he was heading.
It’s not the material from Ralston’s own autobiography (Between a Rock and a Hard Place) or the events that take place that are the problem. Ralston benefited from the narrative text of a book to get his story, and his feelings, across; to allow a connection between his personality, his life, and his story generate with the reader. Boyle, in adaptation, fails to make us (initially) care about Aron. This is mostly due to the structure of the screenplay. Rather than starting after Aron’s accident, we are greeted to a frantic opening sequence of random stock footage of individuals rushing through their daily activities of living, in triple split screen to footage frantic footage of Aaron preparing for his trip. The first half of the act one you’ve already seen: it’s all featured in a rapidly paced first trailer for the film (which sadly really is that rapidly paced and awkward when you see it on film).
Instead, Boyle would have been wiser to begin in flashback, rather than our first images of the protagonist to be ones of annoyance. The largest problem with the film is Boyle’s almost schizophrenic direction. Boyle alternates between over-saturated colors and frenetic in-your-face cutting to gritty, scaled back observation. The film excels when the latter occurs; when Boyle puts fancy camera tricks aside and let’s Franco’s humanism and skill as a dramatic actor shine through, 127 Hours is fantastic. Sadly, these moments are short-lived and it seems for every two minutes of quiet struggle, there are three minutes of random, chaotic direction with soaring panning shots, jump cuts, and sped-up visual effects.
The flashbacks are minimal, in terms of both length and clarity. This is mostly commendable: if you’re thinking back on your life with your past significant other, you aren’t going to start from the beginning and go through the entire tale of your meeting and eventual demise. Instead, you’ll flash on the moments that stick out the most. Thus, while the decisions regarding the film’s portrayal of flashbacks makes sense in terms of authenticity, in the instant case the audience would have benefited from more in order to fully understand Aaron Ralston as a person. As such, the audience is thrust into the events in the life of a man we don’t know too much about.
While his story is fascinating, there’s a disconnect here, again largely due to Boyle’s choices as director. If the film had been done with a low budget and gritty realism from start to finish, it wouldn’t have mattered whether or not the audience learned one thing about Ralston. We would have cared because we would have felt drawn in, captivated, claustrophobic, terrified for the entire length of the film rather than sporadic sequences. Franco commendably conveys Ralston’s emotions with authenticity and raw passion. I wouldn’t call his performance amazing; I feel he gave a better performance earlier this year as Allen Ginsberg in Howl. Nevertheless, it’s a fascinating performance, limited by the strengths of the film in general.
The unevenness of the film shines through in A.R. Rahman’s score as well. At times, it is haunting, sparse and a perfect match; the rest is overbearing and obnoxious. This could be the theme for 127 Hours as a whole. It’s a shame Boyle couldn’t pick one central stylistic theme and given it his all as he’s achieved with earlier films such as Shallow Grave and Trainspotting. Riding the mainstream success of Slumdog Millionaire, which was incredibly similar aesthetically, Boyle failed to realize here that sometimes less is more. 127 Hours is worth visiting for the quiet moments that grip you; for the emotional impact that bleeds through parts of the second act and the near the end of the third act; and most of all, for Franco’s unmitigated performance.
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Jason -- Thanks for coming over! I'd love to hear what you think after you see it!