6/10
I was conflicted about this movie the whole way through but the incredible, orgasmic ending almost had me convinced I liked it more than I did. James Franco was tremendous (as expected) and Danny Boyle has talent in spades, but I was disappointed in the movie's style, I guess. I understand Boyle had to pull out all the stops to make a movie about a guy trapped for 95% of its running time interesting, but I felt this movie was stylized to the point of oversaturation. Between all the glossy visions of ex-girlfriends and potential loves to be, memories of a family neglected, fantasies of escaping, hallucinations, jaunty, ironic pop tunes etc, I felt the realism of Aron Ralston's predicament was sacrificed. Maybe it's a pretentious take but I couldn't help but wonder how a director like Cristi Puiu or Bela Tarr would handle an identical story. I even wondered how it would compare to a movie like Buried, which I've yet to see. I probably should have expected it going in, but Boyle's version felt too much like a music video, tarted up with the predictable Hollywood themes listed above to make it more appealing. The flash worked very well in Slumdog Millionaire, not so much here.
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