127 hours is indeed worth every second you spend in the cinema hall. Its much more than the bear grylls type 'adventure' that you expect. Its much more than the triumph of human will over circumstances. Much more than age old mind vs body debate. Its much more than the adrenaline rush that you expect. It IS all that plus much more. Its more to do with it the human emotions in the state of trauma. Its more to do with what are the important things in life. Its about loving the people around you. And overall, its about being thankful. Thankful to your loved ones. Thankful to life. Thankful to God in general to have given you the opportunity to 'Live'. It tells you that life is indeed a privilege and not something which is to be taken as a 'Given'. Overall, a must watch despite getting (just a tad bit) slow in a couple of scenes and (according to me) ill fitted Rahman Score. The most brilliant part about the movie is its story (or the lack of it). I mean, a young adrenaline junkie falls into a crack in a mountain and his hand gets pinned to the wall by a falling rock. He is stuck there for 5 days with just a bottle of water and a 'Chinese' swiss knife and how he escapes. Compelling story on paper but the challenge is to portray this one line story on the big screen for one a half hour, with nothing but one actor. No flashy special effects. No 'Dramatic' performances. No hard 'O shit' moments. Sounds boring? Wait till you watch the movie. Danny does a superb job in taking this 'boring' story and weaving a tale of triumph of human spirit over circumstances. Nothing short of brilliance i would say.
Another thing which makes the movie work is its 'emotion-ness'. When you go for the movie, you expect this to be 'adventurous'. You expect some jaw dropping moments. Some kick ass action stuff. Some high flying jumps. Some adrenaline rush etc. But actually the movie is very emotional according to me. It just uses this tragedy as a medium. The message is much larger. The movie talks about being thankful to life in general. It talks about being with the family and importance of the things we take for granted. When you know you are going to die, THEN you think about the important things in life. These things are not THINGS but people and relationships. That was a key take away for me.
The movie also inspires you to do what you have to do in times of distress. Either you can leave things on fate. Or you make your own fate yourself. Sounds filmy? Well, the story itself filmy so how can the movie not be filmy! Anyways, i think apart from danny boyle, the movie is as good as it is because of James Franco. To be honest i had my doubts about his being able to carry off the burden of a movie where almost 99% of the screentime is given to him. There is hardly (or wait i don't thin there is) any scene where he is not on camera. But his goofiness, his free willy nature, his cuteness, his humour, his 'oh how can such a bad thing happen to him' irony makes the audience falls in love with his performance much more than the character. I'm not sure if he would be able to win an oscar for this performance but it is way up there no doubt. Kick ass performance by franco. I hope he lands in the big league after this.
The only thing i didn't like about the movie was its background score. I felt it was too much of a misfit in the whole narrative. The movie had its own feel and it was as if Rahman was composing for some other movie. I know most would think i am crazy to say such a thing about a score which has been nominated for an oscar. But it just didn't work for me. Or may be i am too big an Hans Zimmer Fan ! Also i think in the middle for about 10 minutes, you are like, 'OK this is getting kinda boring now' but then it comes back to its pace. Apart from these two things. Its as brilliant as it can be.
Overall : (Need i say?) Must Watch for the Inspiring Story and James Franco.
Feel-O-Meter: 9/10
Food fpr thought: What if Matt Damon was there in place of Franco? ;)