A true story about some moron who decides that going out into the desert, without any source of contact to the outside world or without telling anyone he’s going there (he ignored messages from his own mother, the bastard), would be a freakin rad-sick way to spend his weekend. Prick.
I had decent hopes for this after all the hype. James Franco is capable of making something like this work and while Danny Boyle’s reputation is on the crest of a wave, I thought it had to be worth checking out.
In short, it was ok. James Franco does indeed pull the film together well, but the character pissed me off in the first 90 seconds of the movie. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the outdoors as much as the next man (he says as he types on the internet…) but I just can’t hack these energiser bunny wankers. They just remind me of Paul Whitehouse’s ‘Brilliant!!!’ character from the Fast Show. However that’s funny, this is preachy.
So for Franco to turn it around is a testament to his performance. I was genuinely close to turning this off after about 10 minutes. Frankly, I don’t think I’d have missed much if I had. However, I stuck it out and like I say, it was ok. I’d be interested to know how much of it was embelished. I’m not unaware of the fact that dramatisation was added for impact. It’s a movie, It’s got to be interesting and I’m sure the story straight up would have lacked the drama required for entertainment.
I thought the films climax was handled quite well however. The ‘gorey’ bit that the whole film builds up to did have me grimacing and covering my mouth in a “oooooooooooh noooooooooooooo aaaaaarrrrrrrrhhhhhhhhhhhhh” kind of way.
127 Hours Score: 6/10
Film Fart 