Review: '127 Hours'

Ralston is in a mild state of euphoria as he ignores phone calls from his family in his race from civilization toward his rocky refuge. (It's fitting that the actor looking to unleash his barbaric yawp portrayed Walt Whitman disciple Allen Ginsberg in this fall's "Howl.")

Ralston scampers about the sun-splashed red rocks of southern Utah like an over-caffeinated and highly skilled child before running into two attractive young women. Like a whirlwind, he enters their lives, becoming their de facto tour guide as he leads them over the Martian moonscape and eventually to an iridescent subterranean pool. But the whimsical joy and charm of the chance encounter are weighted by the danger we know that awaits. The situational irony lurks underneath every smash cut and every crooked Franco smile.

Drawn to the next thrill, Ralston lights off on his own. As he does his best Spider-man impression, shimmying between two rock formations in Blue John Canyon, the free spirit loses his grip and in his fall dislodges a boulder that follows him on his descent to the canyon floor, where it traps his arm.

As he says, initially with a touch of humor and then with a fearful resignation, "Oops."

At first Ralston does what any of us would do: He frantically attempts to move the boulder or forcefully withdraw his arm from the rocky vise. He bucks, he screams. He tries to use his pedestrian multitool to shave down the boulder. It becomes abundantly clear that he is stuck.

The camera pulls back from the tight space, up through foot after foot of canyon crevice, to the hot stony surface of Ralston's natural coffin. He is alone. Very alone.

The trouble with a movie that lets you know from the beginning how long its protagonist is going to be in a stagnant situation (that's 127 hours for those not paying attention at home) is the possibility a restless audience might begin to count the fictive minutes.

But Boyle presents us with a kinetic experience that moves from tight shots of Franco's expressive face to the vastness of the red Utah terrain and into the dark unseen recesses of Ralston's mind.

Using a series of flashbacks, hallucinations and ingenious filmmaking, Boyle gives incredible vitality to what has become a one-man show that is at once terrifying and touching. Imaginative shots take us inside Ralston's canteen, which is slowly being emptied of its life-giving power. And we enter Ralston's mind as he contemplates how long he has to live while coming to terms with the selfishness that landed him in his present predicament.

In a manic bout of reckoning, Ralston imagines - and acts out - a talk-show scene in which he is presented with his own hubris. It is this hilarious and slightly heart-wrenching scene, in which Ralston both mocks and bids adieu to his former self, where the Oscar committee will undoubtedly come to attention and recognize the complexity of Franco's talents.

The ruggedly handsome actor who has become something of a Renaissance man par excellence might want to hurry up with his post-grad studies at Yale University, painting, modeling work, writing and play-acting on soap operas, because his schedule is about to fill up with the duties of being one of the biggest stars in the business.

Unlike the entitled and tortured Christopher McCandless presented in 2007's "Into the Wild," Franco's Ralston does not challenge our ability to like him. While his more selfish tendencies at times might betray him, we forgive the young adventurer and cheer for him.

Having exhausted his options for escape and survival, Ralston's tempestuous struggle slowly transforms into a stark realization that he is going to die alone. It is only then, in a moment of delirious inventiveness, that he realizes his sole means for survival. I won't give away any details of the headline-making events. I will only say it is one of the most visceral and affecting moments you can imagine.

Leaving the theater, you will inevitably ask yourself, `Could I do what he did?' The answer is: Of course you could. Because Ralston, presented with an unthinkable path to a second chance at a more fully realized and appreciated existence, did what the movie implies that we all should and would do - he chooses life.

The film's moralizing might have felt tedious and heavy-handed if told in a more static style, but guided by Boyle's brilliance and lifted by Franco's incredible performance, the movie never feels anything less than urgent and vital.

"127 Hours"

Our grade: A

Genre: Drama

Running Time: 93 min

MPAA rating: R