Hearing the story of Aron Ralston may not be one of those memorable moments that you will remember for the rest of your life, as in the “Where were you when the Twin Towers fell?” sort of way, but I can definitely remember the shock with hints of nausea I felt when hearing that a man had to cut his own arm off.  Which just so happens to be the memory that came flooding back when I heard about the film.  Don’t worry; the film is worth the queasiness.

To put it simply, Aron is a man of adventure who would probably spend every possible moment gleefully playing outside.  He may not be as crazy as the Grizzly Man, but his passion for exploring the great outdoors is not easy to understand for those that are less actively inclined, though the way in which the environments are shot sure do make them pretty appealing. At the start of the film we spend a small percentage following him move with excited ease in his element, with a brief section of seeing his people skills as he comes across two girls (Kate Mara and Amber Tamblyn) who don’t have the same knowledge of the area as he does.  But once they part Aron is pretty much on his own for the rest of the film.

As a sort of kick to the gut, once Aron slips and inescapably lodges his arm literally between a rock and a hard place the title card appears in frame, starting the countdown to the time of self-mutilation.  From then on the general mixture of feelings made up from happy-go-lucky sensibilities (on his part) and impending doom (on our part) transfers over to a different mixture, one with a larger measuring of tension thrown into the mix thanks to the knowledge of how this will all end.

Since Aron is obviously not going anywhere the majority of the film takes place with him lodged uncomfortably at the bottom of a chasm, camera right on his face.  James Franco plays Aron, and it is hard not to get caught up in his performance that really is award worthy.  In the course of the film we see him playing a man at his best and worse, going through disbelief, denial, regret, fear, acceptance, hope, etc., sometimes with the spectrum of emotions dancing across his face and/or eyes within a few seconds, especially when he is looking back over everything during his video logs and final messages home.

After watching the film I wouldn’t have trouble believing that Franco could make reading the phonebook for an hour and a half an emotion filled experience, but he doesn’t completely carry the film with his performance alone with these close ups.  To relieve the claustrophobia different movie making tricks are used to play out the deteriorating state of mind of the main character, delving into the realm of imagination with memory flashes, visual mirages of what he will miss if this all ends badly, and delusional fantasies, adding yet another reason to feel terrible for the situation Aron finds himself in.

Though these filmmaking elements were added to make this story more exciting, there is something about the way in which the true story of Aron Ralston is presented that makes it feel just as real.  Though the majority of the film is just a man and a camera it will be impossible not to be overwhelmed by emotions when watching this, even when the outcome is known, making that final pull away from the rock as full of relief for the audience as it is for him (well, probably not, but you get the idea).  And for the queasy, the final attempt at separation is a gruesome thing to witness because of the knowledge of what is occurring, but it is shot in such away where the gore is not overexposed for effect.  Phew… Color me relieved.

Final Grade: A-