127 Hours is an intense and inventive telling of Aron Ralston’s harrowing true story that Danny Boyle makes the most out of a rather limited film experience.

Aron Ralston’s story is an unbelievable tale from the early 2000’s in which this adventurous mountain biker, hiker, outdoor kid is out on a hike when his arm gets trapped under a rock, in the middle of nowhere, and he spends the next 127 hours trying to free himself from his peril.

Now, the film is basically a one man show as we stay with Aron by himself, almost entirely, after the first twenty minutes of the film or so.  Any other faces in the film after Aron leaves a pair of young co-ed hikers are either in flashes of Aron’s visions/dreams he experiences trapped and isolated in the canyon.  Danny Boyle does a more or less bang up job of keeping the narrative moving forward and keeps things bouncing back and forth between Aron’s head and attempts to free himself and only once press our patience throughout.  The film, thankfully, doesn’t linger too long anywhere outside that one previously mentioned moment as isolation and being alone becomes rather compelling.

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