127 Hours (2010, U.S.)

This was a strangely engaging film, based on a true story that I actually remember from the news at the time. Basically, Aron Ralston goes out hiking alone in the Utah canyons, has his arm pinned under a boulder, and is trapped for five days before he amputates his own arm with a pocketknife. Grim stuff.

The film was very well done. The opening credits were an interesting montage of crowded city scenes and nature, showing a stark contrast. Once the story gets going, it starts out with enough scenes to show Aron's character, a laid-back, easy-going, friendly hiker who is more into being in nature than communicating with humans. Once he gets on his bike out in the canyons, his exuberance is almost contagious. It would make even the most sedentary person want to get out there and do something in nature.

Once he's trapped, I'm a little torn on my feelings. Probably because I have a love/hate relationship with James Franco. During some parts he gives a powerful, moving performance, but at other times it's like he's a stoner who thinks he's James Dean. Way too much. Still, most of the performance is talent rather than melodramatic overacting. This part also has some very interesting and well-used special effects that emphasize his condition. One of the best was from the inside of his water bottle as he sucked the last few milliliters out. It's hard to describe, but it was fantastically done. Then they show a montage as he dreams of going to a party with lots of beer, watching a soda commercial, etc. Basically, it has the effect of making the viewer feel his thirst. Very neat.

Other than these interesting effects and montages, the music was the most phenomenal part. I guess I'm not surprised, coming from the composer of the stellar Slumdog Millionaire score. I don't know how else to describe it except to say that it sounded like America when he looked out over the canyons. And the painful, screeching music used when he cut through his tendons while freeing his arm made me grit my teeth in pain, like it was my arm being severed. Wow.

So overall, quite a well-done film. I don't know if I would call it an inspiring survival story, because that's not what it felt like. It was more like an historical recreation—this is how it was. Even if the former was its intent and it didn't accomplish its aim, it was still a very engaging, thoughtful movie.

Rating: 3.5

We Are Marshall (2006, U.S.)

I meant to see this movie when it came to the dollar theater, but I never quite made it. (Main attraction being, of course, Matthew Fox.) Mom bought it recently, so I finally got to see it, two years later.

It was okay. I mean, it was sad, vaguely hopeful, and Matthew Fox was in it. Past that, it could have used more of everything. I felt like I spent a lot of the movie reading emotion into the characters that wasn't actually portrayed, just because I thought it should be there. I don't know if this was bad acting, scripting, or directing, but it wasn't nearly as moving as it could have been.

What else is there really to say about this one? If you haven't seen it, you haven't missed much—especially if you're a big fan of the emotional sports films like Remember the Titans, Miracle, and the rest. I guess that's to be expected from a director whose main movie projects were Charlie's Angels—I and II.

It wasn't a total waste of time, but... eh. Maybe I would've liked it better without a raging headache. And if Matthew Fox's horrible dye-job wasn't so distracting.

Rating: 3.0