“127 HOURS” Movie Review. If YOU get TRAPPED in the CHASM of your OWN doing NEVER say DIE.

“127 HOURS” PRESS PREVIEW

There’s this CHINESE adage that preaches, “In LIFE, when you hit rock bottom, all you need to do is to fight your way UP.”

Yeah, right.

That is, provided you DON’T EVER SAY DIE.

“DIE” is one improbable word. It exclaims “defeat”.

Here’s an inspiring true-life parable about an aloof, crazy guy who loves sports and adventure as he sets out on a journey to the rockies, on his mountain bike.

The wide expanse of freedom and nature greet him.

He just needs to be away from civilization for a while. He is leaving no words. Nope, he’s not calling his mother either.

Our hero discovers that he is a human being capable of a superhuman feat of endurance when he is thrown into a death-defying situation.

That is, when he finds that he is ambling inches away from this thing called “death”.

He is an avid mountain climber ARON RALSTON, who made headlines in 2003 when he became trapped in the Blue John Canyon in Utah, his arm pinned by a heavy boulder.

After five days alone, all hopes dashed and strength seeping away, RALSTON elected to amputate his trapped arm with a pen knife in the hope he could run for help, before losing too much blood.

Sitting in your armchair, would you ever understand what’s it is like to be alone and fearful, trapped within the harrowing depths of despair?

“127 Hours” directed by DANNY BOYLE is not a morale booster summoning your inner strength, nor it is a horrific tale – but one about a common man,in his throes of despair mustering his courage to re-examine the circumstances that led to his predicament.

Does this not strike a familiar chord in us that we are all guilty of the same trait?

When thrown into the deepest of depths, a regretful RALSTON has all the time in his hands to re-run the journey of his life at the back of his mind …. his dreams, parental love, a dwindling relationship and his cockiness.

It’s a compulsory playback where you are forced to re-assess what you have achieved so far, and what you’d have missed if you had perished in a mishap.

We gather a stark morale here that demonstrates to us never to take our lives for granted when we are still breathing.

Because in life, not everyone has a second chance.

Writer SHARNAE GREEN writes:

“I cry in courage.

It’s the only way to release pain using bravery and strength.

My courage despises my weaknesses.

Courage causes my muscles to tense up in my thighs

and pump my legs to push in front of each other,

causing motion and strength to walk.

Courage is power, strength, dedication and this smile that hides my pain.”

“127 HOURS” is a bravura piece of film-making that captures the resilience of the human spirit. It is taut, gripping, a movie you’ll never forget with a mesmerizing performance by JAMES FRANCO as ARON RALSTON.

Metaphorically speaking, in LIFE, when you are mentally trapped in the abyss of your own thinking, never self-destruct, never say die. Never ever.

When you fall, pick yourself up.

Pep up your courage, because in life, everyone’s too busy fending for himself.

Please don’t dream of conquering Mount Everest, nor scale any highest mountain after this.

“127 HOURS” is a visual tour-de-force.

British Director-of-Photography ANTHONY DOD MANTLE does a splendid job in conveying poetic justice when he has his camera closes on the bewilderment on actor JAMES FRANCO’s face when he first learns that he’s trapped by his own folly.

Then as the camera pans across the sprawling expanse of lonely mountains, we hear his resounding cries of anguish, first rising to a crescendo then slowly fading away, when the camera draws back – as if the shot is taken from a helicopter.

It’s this real.

“127 HOURS” inadvertently admonishes us to think, every time – before we take any calculated risk.

Avoid being a smart Alec and to steer away from this thing called DANGER.

Because being a community hero sometimes may not justify any rewards at the end of the day.

Sigh.