127 Hours - Danny Boyle's newest film hits hard and resonates.

I remember hearing the story of Aron Ralston a few years ago on an episode of 60 Minutes and being absolutely floored by what the man went through.  When I heard that Danny Boyle was bringing Aron's story to the big screen in his new film 127 Hours it was a no brainer for me to check it out.  Boyle has a great track record with films like Trainspotting and, one of my favorites of the last few years, Slumdog Millionaire.  Both are excellent films, and they hum with a certain life and vividness that Boyle seems so good at bringing to the screen.  Ralston's story in the hands of Boyle was sure to be an interesting time in the theatre.  I wasn't disappointed.

I'm going to be honest with you here, I don't really know how to talk about this film.  I've started writing this a couple of times now and each time it seems to get harder and harder.  Why?  I'm not exactly sure.  Here's what I know, the film resonated with me.  It struck a chord deep inside me, and I didn't even know I was so deeply invested in the story until the film's final moments.

127 Hours shares some of the same characteristics as the Ryan Reynolds movie Buried from earlier this fall.  Both feature a main character who finds himself in a desperate (and almost incomprehensible) situation.  Both films pretty much rely on the leading man to carry the entire arc of the plot, and are located principally in a single location.  For Reynolds it's waking up to find himself buried alive in a coffin, and for James Franco's Aron Ralston it's trapped between a boulder and a canyon wall.

However, whereas I would call Buried a great movie, I would call 127 Hours a great film.

The difference?  Buried is an exercise reminiscent of some Hitchcock films.  It's a 90 minute exercise in building tension, filling in some of the story, and keeping the viewer on the edge of their seat until the final credits roll.  

127 Hours is a human story, a personal story born of surviving extraordinary circumstances.  It's somehow life affirming, and makes you glad for the people you have that love you, and that love you.  Though at first glance the story appears to be about Ralston's dilemma, struggle, and the steps he takes to get out of the situation, it's actually about something different altogether.  As the story unfolds, and the hours become days, you come to understand that it's all about something bigger for Aron.  The self reliant, tough, capable explorer who's willing to go it alone ultimately causes Aron to find himself isolated from those he loves, and those he has loved and lost.  His "strength" is what gets him into the predicament that he's in, and the revelation that his actions have been holding himself back is what finally allows him to move forward.

I'm sorry to say that I'm not being terribly eloquent on my thoughts here.

Here's what I can say:  We can't do this alone.  We can't do "life" alone.  We are meant to have love, to have support, to seek it out and provide it to others so that they don't have to be alone either.  There is no shame in needing help from time to time, and looking to others for support.  Leaning on those you love can make you stronger, allowing those you love to know your feelings makes you stronger, and that strength will help you tackle whatever comes next.

See the movie.  It will move you.  You will rejoice at being alive.  You will rejoice at life.