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Kansas City's Online Journal of the Performing Arts

So what would you do for a Klondike Bar? Or even for a glass of water, sans the lemon? For real life outdoor thrill seeker Aron Ralston (played by James Franco) this meant cutting off the lower half of his right arm, captured with stomach-churning gruesomeness in the drama 127 Hours.

It’s April 2003 and Ralston is perfectly happy with heading alone out into the wilderness to explore all that nature has to offer. For this particular trip, near Moab, Utah, Ralston heads to a remote canyon where he traverses narrow crevasses and winding gullies. Along the way, he encounters two female hikers but soon leaves them to go out on his own again.

As Ralston, who initially comes across as a little unlikable, later descends into another canyon, a boulder gives way and pins his right hand against the canyon wall. Initially, he stares at it in disbelief before anger and frustration set in as his cries for help go unanswered and his attempts to move the boulder end in failure.

For five days Ralston stands alone, enduring temperatures that swing from the mid-80s to the low 40s with little water and food. What makes matters worse is that he did not tell anyone where he was going. Resignation sits in as he documents his hours on a camcorder. He begins to hallucinate. His heart rate won’t slow down. Desperate, he summons the courage to cut off the lower half of his right arm with a dull knife.

Pulling off what amounts to a one-man show is a difficult thing to do for any actor. Franco, who’s perhaps been best known for winning a Golden Globe as James Dean and being Peter Parker’s best friend in Spider-Man, pulls it off with brilliance in what deserves to be an Oscar-nominated performance. In a relatively short amount of time he expertly portrays a tremendous range of emotion without being over-the-top, especially during the climatic scene in which he cuts off his arm with gritty realism.

Director and co-writer Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, 28 Days Later, Slumdog Millionaire) stamps his own uniqueness on the story. It’s everything from the extreme close-ups of Franco’s eyeballs as he inserts his contact lenses in to Ralston’s Scooby Doo hallucinations to his visions of a future wife to the frenetic music he chose. While it may not be the best film of the year, 127 Hours is certainly one of the most courageous.

On a letter grade scale from “A” being excellent to “F” for failing, 127 Hours receives an A-.

127 Hours is rated R and has a running time of 94 minutes.

Now showing through December 2 @
Glenwood Arts
9575 Metcalf, Overland Park, KS
Visit www.fineartsgroup.com or call 913-642-4404 for more information.

By Michael D. Smith

Indie Film Editor

Michael D. Smith earned a Bachelor of Arts in history at College of the Ozarks in Point Lookout, Missouri followed by a Master of Arts in history at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Inspired by such critics as Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, Michael started reviewing films in 1992 for College of the Ozarks's student-run newspaper. After returning to the Kansas City area in 1994, he continued film reviewing by writing for the Cass County Democrat Missourian in Harrisonville.

In 2000 Michael joined Sun Publications in Overland Park, Kansas where he served as its film critic and Arts and Entertainment Editor. During his tenure there, he was also the film critic for the "Fine Arts Radio Hour" and "Celebrity Scoop" radio shows on KXTR. After leaving the Sun in late 2002, he became the A&E writer for the Olathe News in Olathe, Kansas. He also worked as a freelance writer for The Squire in Leawood, Showcase Publishing in Lake Ozark, Missouri and the Kansas City Star.

Michael is currently a member of the Kansas City Film Critics Circle, a professional film critic organization established in 1966 by the late Dr. James Loutzenhiser.