I've Fallen and I Can't Get Up!

Holy crap.  I just finished watching 127 hours.  Dang.  I whole-heartedly support James Franco’s Oscar nod.  (I still think Colin Firth was the rightful winner – I’m just sayin’.)

I knew going in that he spends the entire movie trapped under a rock in a canyon.  Because of that, I thought the movie would be super slow moving, and sort of long feeling.  But it really wasn’t.  Even though he doesn’t really move for the majority of the film, the lengths he went to save himself kept me holding my breath and wondering how he would escape.

Let me just say, I’m really glad I did not see it on the big screen.  I may have vomited and or passed out at the part where he cuts off his arm with a CAN OPENER.  Generally, I frown on vomiting or any other break down in bodily functions in public.  The fact that this is a true story makes that scene even more gruesome and horrible.  I’ve seen films that were bloodier or more graphic – Saving Private Ryan, or Braveheart, or heck the first five seconds of that Blade movie – but when it’s real, it’s even more unbelievable and gut wrenching.  

I’d like to think, were I in a similar situation I’d prevail and find my way back home.  Realistically though, I probably would’ve died in that canyon.  He was so resourceful!  He hooked up a pulley system to try and gain some leverage and lift the rock off his arm.  He suspended himself with his gear so he could sleep.  He wrapped himself in everything he had to stay warm at night.  Every time he came up with some new idea, some new way to stay alive, I was amazed.  

I do have to say, that those people who never watched “I Shouldn’t Be Alive” on the Discovery Channel may have been confused towards the middle and end, when he started hallucinating because of dehydration.  Unlike “I Shouldn’t Be Alive,” 127 Hours had no narrator to explain what his body was going through, but I can forgive some ambiguity in favor of realism.  

One thing I missed was seeing a reunion with his folks.  They get him on the helicopter – which he walks to after 5 days without food and water, by the way – then it’s a montage of press appearances, swimming and hiking.  He talked so much about how he loved his mom and wished he’d called her back when he was stuck in the canyon that I wanted to see her relief, her joy.

I think my favorite part was the very end where it showed the real guy and his wife and newborn sitting on the couch.  It was such a comfort to see.  There he is, with his family.  There’s what he’s done with the life he pried from the jaws of death.  

I declare this movie a must see for everyone, except maybe those of you like my mom, or cousin who are a little squeamish about blood.  It was truly inspirational, made even better by the fact that it’s a true story.

P.S. If you ever go hiking alone, make sure you TELL PEOPLE WHERE YOU’RE GOING!