127 Hours: A survival tale well told - Entertainment, Movies - Army Times

127 Hours: A survival tale well told

The story of Aron Ralston, the hiker who was pinned under a boulder for five days and had to go to gut-churning extremes to survive, is well-known.

So how does a movie director enthrall an audience that will include many viewers who already know the ending?

It’s all in the telling. In “127 Hours,” Danny Boyle doesn’t simply regurgitate the facts of Ralston’s ordeal, but crafts a story that is entertaining and disturbing in equal measures.

And it doesn’t hurt that this is the kind of story that naturally draws viewers into wondering how they would handle such a desperate, worst-case scenario.

Boyle spends a few minutes establishing the cocky, self-reliant Ralston (James Franco in an Oscar-worthy performance) as he leaves the city behind for Utah’s Canyonlands National Park to ride his mountain bike in solitude.

But for those who know the real-life story, Ralston’s date with an immovable chockstone will loom at every change in the soundtrack, as does his subsequent self-mutilation.

Two hours of watching a guy wrestle with a boulder seems like a recipe for a $12 nap, but there isn’t a dull moment in Boyle’s telling of Ralston’s physical and emotional struggle.

The story is told from two perspectives — Ralston’s outward ordeal with the boulder, and the inner machinations of his imagination.

Franco flawlessly moves through the full spectrum of his character’s emotions, his face transitioning from cheery and healthy to sunken-eyed and hurting.

Early on, Ralston lays out his meager gear: water bottle, CamelBak, snack bars, climbing ropes and slings, harness, carabiners, and the multitool.

Ahh, the multitool. The knock-off knife becomes a character. Every time it appears, there is a little gasp from the audience — you know what’s coming, you just don’t know when. Boyle deftly milks this anticipation.

He also develops our attachment to Franco by keeping him squarely in that canyon; he never portrays Ralston in the flashback scenes, which keeps us pinned to Franco as tightly as he is pinned by that rock.

Another way Boyle keeps viewers focused on that canyon is through his range of camera angles. This film clearly was shot with cameras suited to tight spaces — which surely helped Franco feel trapped and, in turn, express that feeling to the audience.

One of the best moments in the film comes late, just after Ralston wins the battle of the boulder: He says, “thank you.”

To what or who is never made clear. Is he thanking the rock for releasing him? Is he thanking the rock for showing him what’s truly important in life? Is he thanking some higher power for allowing him to survive? It’s a delicious ambiguity that will charge a post-screening conversation.

Ralston sees himself as a hard case who can handle anything. That same “I can do anything” attitude that got him stuck in the first place is what saves him in the end.

Which leaves us with an intriguing question: Does Ralston’s experience change him, or does it merely reinforce his bravado?

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Rated R for language and violent/bloody content.