In 2003, reckless thrill-seeker Aron Ralston went rock-climbing and hiking in the canyons of Utah without telling anyone where he was. He meets a couple of female hikers who he takes to a hidden pool and has a bit of fun with before departing to wander the plains on his own. In a bizarre accident, Ralston slips on a loose boulder and falls into a canyon, the boulder falling with him and landing on his arm, completely trapping him. It takes some time for the gravity of the situation to hit Ralston after some initial confusion. He must work out how to escape his predicament or accept his fate, with only a few tools including a blunt pen knife, and very little water for company. It will be of no surprise to know that Aron Ralston does survive the ordeal, and famously had to cut off his own arm with said pen knife in order to escape. The skill of Boyle as a director, and the acting ability of James Franco as our hero, combine to make the film as exciting and nail-biting as a story can be when we already know the outcome.It must have been an ordeal to figure out how to make a 90-minute film about one man stuck in one place for over five days. Kudos goes to editor Jon Harris and cinematographers Enrique Chediak and Anthony Dod Mantle for using all the tricks in the book to make the visuals consistently interesting and never allowing the action to drag. As Ralston begins to hallucinate as his water rationing begins to take it's toll, a combination of split-screens, distorted colours and inserts from pop culture allow us to be placed into the character's damaged state. The camerwork and editing is fast and flashy, much like the character of Aron Ralston himself - always living fast, sometimes too fast for his own good. It's obvious that Danny Boyle is in a deft hand when directing his films this way. It's evident in the fantastic Trainspotting (1996), as Ewan McGregor's Renton goes cold turkey on his heroin addiction, and in the first hour of Slumdog, as he depicts the madness and colour of the slums. It would be difficult to see imagine another director taking on such as challenge with so much confidence and flair.
Which moves us to James Franco's Oscar-nominated lead performance. If this film is a reliable source, and due to the fact it has received Ralston's stamp of authenticity I imagine it is, Aron Ralston is a complete nob head, and is exactly the type of person I would avoid in real life. He is careless, arrogant and cocky, and is only interested in fulfilling his own desires. Franco manages to convince of this totally, and yet I found myself rooting for him as his situation worsens. It's a staggering performance, and from the other I've seen in the Best Actor category (Jeff Bridges and Jesse Eisenberg), he is my favourite. It's a performance of maturity, and in some scenes he is reminiscent of a young Robert De Niro. It's not mean feat to carry a 90 minute film almost completely by yourself, and it hasn't been done so well since Tom Hanks did it in the underrated Cast Away (2000). The scene in which Ralston stages a pretend game-show into his video camera with himself as both host and guest, Franco delivers both shame and over-the-top insanity as Ralston reflects on his attitudes and his recklessness. It's a fantastic scene for Franco, and deserves to win him the Oscar alone.
Not to say that their aren't problems with the film. Towards the end it begins to get unnecessarily sentimental as Ralston starts to think of his family, who he has constantly neglected, watching over him. And when the 'long-awaited' arm removal scene comes, I didn't know what to make of it. Boyle uses sound effects and quick editing which renders the scene easier to watch, and I wasn't sure whether to see this as a cop-out or not. I felt that it is something Ralston went through and it would only be right to show it how it happened, but on the other hand it is more tastefully done. It could have been exploitative in the hands of a poorer director, and I suppose it heightens the absurdity of his circumstance. Given the height of disillusionment and dehydration he was in at the time, he probably didn't experience it in a regular way anyway.
A solid survival flick, and a refreshingly stylish take on it. It deserves to be seen for Franco's performance alone, who I assume will prosper from this to become a highly-sought after leading man.
Directed by: Danny Boyle
Starring: James Franco, Kate Mara, Amber Tamblyn, Treat Williams, Clémence Poésy, Lizzy Caplan
Country: USA/UK
Rating: ****
Tom Gillespie
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