127 Hours (2010)

I think that one of the greatest testaments to the emotional power of this film is that I began sobbing about thirty seconds into the credits. Really, any film can make you cry with ease in the middle of it - just play some weepy strings and show an actor tearing up. It takes real skill to make a movie that affects one in such a way that even after the images on the screen are gone, the impact that they leave on a viewer can move one to tears. "127 Hours" is, then, one of the most powerful films I've seen all year. James Franco is so real, bending his natural charisma and charm and turning it into a powerfully layered realization of Aron Ralston. His eyes are so expressive, and considering that we rely on them to tell so much of the story, that's a great feature.

Not all of Danny Boyle's choices are necessarily convincing, but it's impossible to say that he doesn't take risks; and though some fail, others succeed with such gusto it's possible to overlook the others. The talk show scene, for example, was a directorial triumph made that much better by Franco. This sort of juxtaposition of jovial dialogue with the reality of a tense situation permeates the film and accentuates the suspense of every scene. Then there's the absolutely brilliant cinematography - just look at the way the colors start out so bright and then begin to lose their luster as the days pass and the situation becomes more hopeless. And then there's...that scene. Not gratuitous but still so, so effective. Perhaps the attempted message of society versus isolation isn't quite pulled off the way it wants to be, but as a complete unit this is a raw emotional experience, the likes of which I have not had in a very long time.

8/1o