127 Hours (2010)
Summary
Genre: Drama, ThrillerGoodies:
+ The film does an incredible amount with basically one small setting and situation, + Great performance from James Franco, + Intense cinematic feeling for viewersBaddies:
- Could make viewers uncomfortable, - A bit of weird editing at the beginning of the filmA mountain climber becomes trapped under a boulder while canyoneering alone near Moab, Utah and resorts to desperate measures in order to survive.
127 Hours makes me sad because it is only February, and I don’t know if I will watch a better film this year. The film was visceral and felt more as a documentary than anything else. There have been a few minimalistic films out as of late (Buried), and 127 Hours blows these films out of the water, and the fish are sushi somewhere on Mars. The acting was superb, and the characters very likable. I have few complains with the film, which include the triptych sequences (showing 3 panels of video – didn’t seem to fit in, stylistically). A few parts where he starts hallucinating were kind of off-kilter as well, but that is all overshadowed by the fact that this is one of the most intelligent films I have ever seen. You know the feeling when you say “why doesn’t the character do this?” (mostly horror films), and then you pawn them of as a stupid asshole because that is what any logical, sound-minded individual would do, well, this film for me, was the epitome of the character listening to the audience. For example, at the beginning of his struggle, his knife drops, and I say “he should take off his shoe and use his feet”, what does he do, not 10 seconds later – just that! That happened throughout the entire movie, it’s almost as if they really thought about the film in a logically progressive way. Even though it was largely an insular movie, it keeps the audience wondering what is going to happen next. The film was just phenomenal and you should see it at the first chance you get.
