Review of 127 Hours (2010) by Liam W — 26 Jan 2013

Danny Boyle seems to do his best work when he's the underdog with something to prove. This is what happens when you reward him for making Slumdog Millionaire and tell him how great he is. I really wanted to like this film, because on rare occasions, when I'm not a cynical depressed asshole, I think human beings really can be pretty awesome, and 127 Hours is not a bad film, but that's more a credit to the source material than Boyle's direction.

I don't think that Boyle was the right director for this particular film as the man can't sit still. He's style felt a little odd with a story about a man stuck in one place, if that makes any sense.

I understand that he tried to make something potentially stale exciting (not sure though if this term is correct), but it just came across a little too aggressive and a little music video-ish, considering the story and even the title, as the sense of time is vague in this film.

The whole experience felt very un-cinematic, and that's mainly because of the lack of intensity in my opinion. I felt like this film could've really dove deep into this kind of realization of slow, insane death but instead, the viewer is stylishly presented hallucinations and flashbacks.

This made the film look like a cheap Discovery Channel dramatic re-enactment. The film should have been raw and heavy on realism, pain and grit with greater emphasis on the desolation aspect. I found myself thinking of Buried as I watched this and now admire that film even more.