127 Hours (2010)

This film earned six Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actor. But the improbable story of Aron Ralston is so well known that I found it hard to make a movie about him. Before you see the film you know what happened. You know the outcome. How do you dramatize being stuck by a rock? In April of 2003 Ralston was canyoneering in Utah when he was trapped by a massive boulder that pinned him against the sheer walls. He hadn't told anyone where he was going that weekend. Thinking he would certainly die, he videoed his thoughts to his family. After five days, he amputated his arm with a small, dull multi-purpose knife, climbed out of the crevice, rappelled down a cliff, and walked until he was discovered by a Dutch family. He was taken to a hospital about six hours after his escape. James Franco lends the film star power by playing Ralston, but I had a hard time separating the facts of a phenomenal story from cinematic melodrama. For Ralston's autobiography see Between a Rock and a Hard Place