Absolutely a breathtaking movie

127 HOURS is a comparatively lightweight film as true-life-adventure-dramas (and Best Picture nominees) go, but it's still a compelling adventure. Aron Ralston (James Franco) goes rock climbing and gets his arm stuck between a boulder and a rock-trench wall. Eventually, he cuts it off. Danny Boyle dresses up the story with fantasies and flashbacks--perhaps too many. But the core story is well told, Franco is good (if not superlative), and the climactic amputation scene is masterfully done.

You wouldn't think that a story of being trapped under a boulder would make for such an immense film, but 127 manages by being a mixture of survival and spiritual odyssey. James Franco makes for good company and has that authentic spark of adventurous wonder even in the worst circumstances. Boyle deserves a lot of credit for boiling down what could have been tedious into a tense and fast paced film. A true story that crushes its fictional siblings (Buried, Frozen)

Franco did a great job.

75 for the actual movie. 100 to the real life aron.

Five things this movie tried to teach me: 1. Being stuck under a rock for 5 days really sucks - 2. After about four days with barely any food or water, you'll start doing comedy bits - 3. James Franco can't grow a beard - 4. I want to fuck the shit out of Kate Mara - 5. Danny Boyle is a horrible director. I knew at LEAST four of those beforehand.

I loved Franco's acting, the story was inspirational, I loved the cinematography. I just didnt find the movie itself overly interesting. You stay captivated by Franco's performance, but thats pretty much it. I just think this story was not good 'movie material'.

As a director, Danny Boyle is a bit like Jim Steinman; everything he does looks and sounds about the same. This time he's saddled himself with a story that has two huge drawbacks: nothing really happens in it, and we all know how it's going to end. So he pulls out every stop to try to make the movie exciting . And it's impressive (and short) enough that you don't really have time to get bored before the inevitably uplifting sugary ending. And unlike Steinman, he works with talented people.

It comes off like a commercial - soulless corporate editing and products constantly being shoved in our faces. Actually, the entire story comes off as something better suited for literature than film. To be fair Franco's acting is great when we can actually see it, and the amputation scene is appropriately disturbing. It just feels like it's hiding everything behind a veil of editing, keeping us from enjoying it.

Doesn't quite say or do everything it could have with the subject matter.