127 Hours

I think I have finally cracked the solution to make really really really big bucks. One has to do something that is super duper stupid under the pretext of having a “sense of adventure”. Maybe play with severely poisonous snakes or crocodiles like that guy from down under used to do. Or follow the footsteps of our protagonist and walk into the Grand Canyon. Alone. And make it a point that you don’t inform anyone – I repeat – don’t mention it to a soul as to where you are headed. They may just about prevent you from taking a step towards your first zillion. Just ensure that in the bargain you don’t kill yourself. Someone else will take all the money instead.

Aron Ralston (James Franco) in one adventure crazy dude. There is no other way I can describe him. His idea of a great time is to take off on the weekend and explore areas of the Canyon around Utah. Just random exploration. And he likes to take challenges that are otherwise not imaginable. If it has to do with the canyon then he would happily hop onto the band wagon and have a super duper time. And if he doesn’t have company – who the hell wants it anyways. He is perfectly capable of doing it on his own.

This particular weekend, he does exactly that and heads out to The Great Drop. A quick drive followed by about 20 kms on his bike and then a bit of a walk and he should be there. The bible for the Canyon has been written by Blue John (Fenton Quinn) who used to be the right hand man of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (Blue John makes a brief appearance in the movie when Aron drops into one of his hallucinations). Now Blue John says it will take 4.5 hours to get to this spot but our hero would like to do it in under 3:45. And he seems to be on course. But en route some distraction of the female kind – Kristi (Kate Mara) and Megan (Amber Tamblyn) – 2 damsels in distress who have lost their way. Keeping his aim for the record aside (I would if it were him and women looked like either Kristi or Megan), he decides to show the women a good time – which he manages successfully. Soon enough he finds himself on the way back towards the Great Drop. But a few minutes later, a large, extremely heavy loose rock also finds its way onto his right hand, rendering our man immobile. The count down to 127 hours has begun.

Now Aron Ralston is no fool. After he managed to get himself out (yes that’s the good news) of his mess, he decided to write a book about it. Its aptly titled, “Between a Rock and a Hard Place”. And in 2010, one of the most over rated directors in the world, Danny Boyle, sees his opportunity to make a few million bucks by making a movie out of this example of rank stupidity. And what do you know – it gets nominated for a few Oscars as well. Danny Boyle has this knack of making his movies look and feel much larger than life like he did with Slumdog and The Beach (haven’t seen Trainspotting yet). Does he deserve an Oscar nomination over Christopher Nolan – definitely not. Is he going to give the heebeejeebies to his co-nomiated directors? Probably not. Superb editing has been the hallmark of all movies from Boyle’s table to date and that continiues. His use of brilliant sound and light is probably responsible for getting the nomination. Coming to the acting part, James Franco’s best performance to date, but it will not be able to push Colin Firth from being the favourite for the Best Actor Award. Rahman’s music is again not his best to date. Overall an enjoyable movie but not Oscar winner kinds. Above average on all counts but not the best on any. 7 on 10.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi768149785/