Review - 127 Hours

127 Hours:

Danny Boyle’s films are not usually your straightforward films. Boyle’s films do not sound like must see films that critics and audiences seem to love however from a dead body with a case of money in Shallow Grave , Heroin takers in Trainspotting and a contestant on the Indian version of Who wants to be a Millionaire in Slumdog Millionaire, Boyle likes to make films that don’t sound great but turn out great in most cases and 127 Hours is no different.

Based on the horrible situation Aaron Ralston ended up in when exploring 127 Hours is a great film which is a moving film that is up there with Danny Boyle’s best work and rightfully so.

Boyle has managed to make a movie that is basically just one character for the whole film and make it into a great film which is up there with Boyle’s best films and any film that has been released this year or last when in contention for the Oscars and all other awards this current awards season.

The film triumphs due to Boyle’s directing, A.R Rahman’s score and a superb performance from James Franco. Rahman who also created the award winning soundtrack for Boyle’s Slum dog Millionaire and he reunites with Boyle by creating a very powerful and tense soundtrack that is perfectly used in the movie and in certain scenes.

James Franco as Aaron Ralston is also worthy of at least contention for an Oscar. Franco plays Ralston perfects as a normal guy who is enthusiastic, brave and a quick thinker but is not a hero as his bravery and enthusiasm is also his downfall and leads to him being in the situation he ends up in.

With Boyle at the helm, Rahman on the music and Franco giving the performance of his career so far mixed in with a few flashbacks and fun encounter at the beginning between Ralston and explorers, 127 Hours plays out and keeps the audience interested the whole time with a mixture of intrigue, sadness, some humour and tension which builds up to the talked about moment where Ralston’s desperation to survive leads to a grisly high.

The scene is tense and a little uncomfortable to watch however what follows is one of the happiest and moving endings to a film you will see and will make you think if you are living your life as much as you can and what would you change?

Danny Boyle has impressed again with 127 Hours and his next film will again be looked forward to with hope that it delivers like most of his others have and on the evidence of his career so far, it probably will.

9/10