127 Hours

     I went into this movie with all the hype of it being one of the best performances of the year and one of the best movies of the year as well.  And while there's nothing wrong with the movie itself, I didn't see the amazement that everyone else did while watching it.  If anything, I think it's fitting that I'm blogging about this movie considering the only other blog I've mustered up the energy to do so far has been a very similar movie in Buried.

Similar in the fact that the majority of this movie is simply James Franco delivering a solid performance in a role that requires himself and very little other interaction between any other characters.  That said, if I were to compare the two (and I have been doing so recently), I would say that Buried was the more entertaining movie.  Which is surprising, since that one actually only has one actor in the whole thing, as opposed to 127 Hours, which has brief glimpses of other people and a scene in the beginning with a couple of people that he runs into.

I should clarify, though; I enjoyed 127 Hours.  I thought it was a good movie with a good story and great acting.  But the overall product when it was all said and done, wasn't what I expected it to be.  Mind you, this is a movie that was directed by Danny Boyle, who directed one of my favorite movies of all time called Sunshine.

Side Note: If you haven't seen Sunshine, you need to.  Just don't get the love story drama called Sunshine.  Get the sci-fi epic called Sunshine.  And don't get Little Miss Sunshine, even though that's a good movie too.  Also stay away from Sunshine Cleaning, terrible movie.  And Eternal Sunshine of the-- Okay, okay!  I'll stop!

So, knowing that this was a Danny Boyle film, I thought I was going to be in for something spectacular.  Throughout the movie, there are a lot of elements that make it evident to me that Boyle put some really nice touches on it that make it obvious he directed it, but the more I watched, the more I felt like it was going to feel like 127 Hours had actually passed by the time the movie had ended.

It just takes forever to get to the climax and everything that happens in between isn't really that entertaining.  And I know, there isn't that much you can do with a true story like this one.  And Boyle did take some liberties on making the movie more clever and interesting.  I imagine if he hadn't, this would have been an even more terribly boring movie.  In fact, it probably just would have been a documentary ... which, I believe has already been made about this guy, so that wouldn't have made much sense.

I do think Franco did a great job with what he had, though.  I don't exactly consider him a great actor.  He's had some solid roles in the past, but in general he's one of those guys that does just enough to get by and be entertaining.  This was one of the first movies where I felt he stretched his abilities in what he's capable of doing on the screen.  I have a feeling this is the start of something bigger for him, too.  James Franco gives me this Heath Ledger kind of vibe, like he's got something serious up his sleeve that he just hasn't shown us yet and when he does, he'll give us a string of incredible movies.

Let's just hope that he can keep his head on straight so that he doesn't fall victim to the many challenges of stardom, so that he can stick around and actually complete that string of movies.

The more I think about this movie, the more I ask myself; "Would I recommend this movie?"

To answer that question: Yes.  I would recommend this movie.  I just wouldn't use it as my first recommendation.  Or my second.  Or third.  In fact, I'd probably throw a whole list of other movies at you before I say to see this movie.  Unless you asked me specifically, "What's a good movie about a guy who gets stuck in a canyon?"  Then I would say watch this movie.

But as always, watch the movie, make your own judgements.  It's not a bad film.

It's just not as good as the hype, that's all.

(Best Picture nomination?  Really?)