One Sentence: One scene doesn't make a movie.
Rated: R
Running Time: 94 Minutes
Release Date: Wider 19-Nov-2010
Nudity: None
We all know what happens in this movie. Going to see this movie is a commitment to face something that most people would never wish on their worst enemy. We are going to pay money, sit down, and face something that is truly hard to watch and believe. A day later I am having a hard time shaking that scene. There was something in it that I just can't get out of my head, music, comedy, and other things on the internet are not helping. If I let my mind wander, the scene happens again, and the chills and my stomach turning go along with it. I can understand why it has been reported that people were passing out, I think I forgot to swallow for a while and my throat dried out. It is hard to watch.
It is no secret that I don't love Danny Boyle, for me he always has something good to say and messes it up in some way. 127 Hours goes right along with all the others. The one scene, is amazing, and is wonderful film making, but one scene does not a movie make. 127 is mostly not that scene, and it left Danny Boyle to his own devices to fill the other 1 hour and 15 minutes. So we get a lot of the Danny Boyle special which for me wasn't special. It wasn't bad, this is probably my favorite Danny Boyle movie, but it wasn't amazing, and the rest of the movie left me feeling a bit lost and wanting more. Like it was a bit too dreamy and surreal for my taste.
A wonderful contrast to Danny's fantasy world, was the grounded amazing James Franco who was nothing short of amazing. He really kept this movie going for me, taking this role and making it as real as it felt. I believed every minute of his performance, and I felt like he made this movie all his own.
127 hours is a hard movie to recommend. It is a quality movie, about an amazing person and the human spirit. Which in general people tend to love, but it has some very hard subject matter to watch and loses it's way more than a few times. So I am leaving this one in the air for you. If you love Danny Boyle, then it's an easy choice, but if are on the fence and not sure if this is the movie for you, it might not be.
