Dreams in Action

In the movie 127 Hours,
Aron Ralston is trapped in an isolated canyon.
He escapes by severing his arm.

Could you do it? Would you do it? Cut off your arm to save your life?

Of course you would. Because at our most vulnerable, and our most heroic, we all have the grit. It may take a while to summon the courage. We may fight the idea of doing what we know we must. But in the end, we’ll take on even the hardest thing when it means survival.

That’s at least part of what 127 Hours is about: having the cojones to do what you must even when it’s unthinkable.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlhLOWTnVoQ[/youtube]

127 Hours, rated R for language and disturbing images; 1:33 minutes running time.
Stars James Franco. Directed by Danny Boyle and based on Aron Ralston’s memoir, Between a Rock and a Hard Place.
Now showing in major cities. Find a theater showing 127 Hours near you.

Heather and I saw the movie about a month ago with a gathering of Aron Ralston’s family and friends in Boulder. Just as at other screenings, some of the audience was viscerally affected; one person got up, tried to exit the theater, and passed out in the walkway right in front of us. So this film isn’t for everyone, because it’s graphic and because you have to sit for an hour and a half in extremis with Aron (played dead on by James Franco), feeling the emotional tension of will he? won’t he? how could he? even though we all know he eventually did.

But to reduce this movie to something at the end of Aron’s arm, or rather something no longer at the end of Aron’s arm, is to miss the point. Continue reading →