127 HOURS

Starring: James Franco, Amber Tamblyn.

Directed by Danny Boyle.

Running time: 93 minutes.

Rated R for language and some disturbing violent content/bloody images.

“127 Hours”, AKA “That movie where that guy cuts his arm off, dude” is the new film from Danny Boyle, the director of “Slumdog Millionaire” and “28 Days Later,” two of my personal favorite films. His new film, the true story of a mountaineer/hiker named Aron Ralson follows Ralston as he is hiking in Utah and becomes trapped under a boulder that falls on his arm. The concise, flashy, 90-minute thriller chronicles his struggles with not only survival, but his sanity as well.

This is a great premise, and James Franco does a fantastic job in the central role, as he essentially has to carry the entire movie. He’s charismatic, emotional, and often very funny when he needs to be. His character is a tragic antihero, a loner who has ignored his family and friends and who has spent the majority of his life by himself, hiking through canyons. Ironically, this leads to him failing to have any companions who might have spared him of this trauma. We learn about him through his reminiscing of past girlfriends, family, and work as he begins to lose his grip on reality.

These aforementioned elements are the building blocks of a great film, but unfortunately, “127 Hours” isn’t the movie I wanted it to be, and it isn’t the movie that it had the potential to be. Despite his talents as a director, Boyle doesn’t fit with the movie and he just about ruined the film. The problem is with his visual and editing styles. If you have seen a Boyle picture, you’ll know what I mean. To keep us interested in this film, he uses picture in picture, different exposures, different filters, and several very strange camera angles throughout, almost to the point of exhaustion. For some films, this approach works perfectly, but here, it only serves to keep reminding us that it is only a movie, and prevents us from connecting with it on any profound emotional level.

I mentioned before that Franco’s portrayal of Ralston is fantastic, and it is. However, I never found myself particularly involved with his struggles and in the end I just didn’t care as much as I wish I had.

The movie is still wonderfully made, however, and the amputation sequence, which supposedly caused people to faint and vomit during some screenings, is amazingly visceral and realistic. Even writing now two days after watching the movie, it still makes me shudder thinking about that scene. Ironically, that’s just about the only scene in the film without any camera tricks or obnoxious filters getting in the way.

Critics are throwing accolades at this film left and right, and I still believe that “127 Hours” is worth a watch, preferably with a large audience. However, it isn’t altogether very satisfying. The occasional brilliant sequence, as in one where Ralston hosts a radio talk show for himself, can’t make up for the fact that in the end, between his overdone hallucinations and Boyle’s filmmaking style, we just don’t particularly care.

**1/2(out of four)

Note: I know the movie isn’t playing as of yet in most theaters (it’s the 28th right now), but I got to see it at Summerfield, the new theater built where the Rialto used to be. If there’s something you desperately want to see that doesn’t seem to be playing at your local theater, check that one out.