‘127 Hours’ stays engaging

“127 Hours”

James Franco, Kate Mara, Amber… “127 Hours”

James Franco, Kate Mara, Amber Tamblyn

Directed by Danny Boyle

Fox Searchlight Pictures

A

A gut-wrenching true story generally makes for inspiring cinema — especially if it’s about a man who saws his own arm off.

Danny Boyle’s “127 Hours” tells the gripping tale of Aron Ralston (James Franco), who spent five days trapped in Utah’s Blue John Canyon after his arm became lodged beneath a boulder. Eventually, Ralston was forced to amputate it using a dull knife — but not before collecting his thoughts on a camera he’d brought along.

Ralston, a Carnegie Mellon-educated engineer, begins his journey pleasantly enough. Traveling up Blue John Canyon, he encounters Kristi (Kate Mara) and Megan (Amber Tamblyn), two young women whom he charms.

But, after the boulder falls, the film consists primarily of solitary scenes with Ralston — a directorial feat only compelling with Danny Boyle (“28 Days Later,” “Slumdog Millionaire”) at the helm. No stranger to stomach-churning realism, Boyle employs his hyper-caffeinated cinematic style to turn an impossibly brief plot into 90 minutes of heart-wrenching cinema.

A script like “127 Hours” has a lot going against it. Most obviously, the narrative is merely a motivational vignette, a story you heard on the news that takes a grand total of five minutes to explain. But, the film’s execution is so deft that every inherent pitfall of telling such a story is bypassed with ease.

There couldn’t have been a more perfect casting for the character of Ralston than James Franco. Having demonstrated his versatility in comedies as well as dramas, Franco provides the perfect juxtaposition for Ralston — whose response to finding himself trapped against impossible odds is, “Oops.”

Boyle deals with the blood-curdling scene in which Ralston amputates his arm with characteristic ferocity. The same director who had no qualms about showing a starved newborn in “Trainspotting” has no problem letting audiences know exactly what it’s like to remove your own arm.

“127 Hours” is a rare film in that all components are compatible with each other: Boyle’s directing coupled with Franco’s versatility and a few talented cinematographers makes “127 Hours” a near-perfect movie.