Bloody docu-drama

Apart from being unduly gory, the plot of Danny Boyle’s 127 Hours is
not well thought out and far from absorbing

AFTER the success of his Slumdog Millionaire, Danny Boyle’s 127 Hours comes as a big letdown and it looks as though this British filmmaker, who peaked in The Beach, is very much on his way down.

For one thing, 127 Hours is a docu-drama based on a true story and autobiography Between a Rock and a Hard Place by Aron Ralston and films like this are a bit restricted as one has to stick to the facts. But Boyle takes some liberties in his encounter with the two hikers Megan (Amber Tamblyn) and Kristi (Kate Mara) only to depict Aron’s (James Franco) yen for adventure. But the 127-hour ordeal is far from absorbing. Apart from being unduly gory (one had to look from the screen to avoid the blood-curdling mess), it is not well thought out.

The scenes with his family members and lover (Clemence Poesy) are too cursory and could have been better developed to hold the attention span.

Make-up artist Tony Gardener does an excellent job with the visuals, even though they are hard to stomach but there is little element of suspense.

For this, scriptwriters Boyle and Simon Beaufoy must take the rap. In subjects like this, it is the cerebral that has to be catered to and not the more razzle-dazzle psychedelic effects, which detract from the theme.

Fetchingly shot in Canyonlands National Park of Utah, the arid hillsides smell of the desert air and Bluejohn Canyon where Aron’s actual ordeal takes place is graphically developed but once one goes underground, the sameness tends to tell on one’s nerves. And then, the blood and gore.

A. R. Rahman’s music score is felt, at times, but generally drowned in the special effects.

James Franco does an excellent job, virtually reliving that real life ordeal and at no time does one think he is not Aron himself. But there’s no other role worth mentioning. At best, Amber Tamblyn (could be some descendent from Russ of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers) and Kate Mara are lively and their absence is sorely missed. But I wouldn’t recommend 127 Hours. No sir.

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