Simon Dillon reviews the film

"It is not good for man to be alone", God said in Genesis - a lesson Aaron Ralston found himself on the sharp end of in 2003, when after 127 hours with his arm pinned by a fallen boulder in a remote Utah canyon, he used a blunt penknife to cut himself free.

I'll come back to the grisly business of appendage removal later, but its worth saying upfront that Danny Boyle's latest makes an inspired - and for the most part successful - stab at turning this extraordinary true story into a piece of cinema. 127 Hours has the energy and pace of Boyle's best work, which is all the more remarkable given the static, claustrophobic setting. Boyle gets around this problem by introducing flashbacks, dreams and hallucinations (it's not always clear which is which), but these are not just clever visual window dressing. They prove the premise of the story: it is not good for man to be alone.

In Ralston's case, he is a loner by choice. Through flashbacks we learn how he ignores his mother's phone calls, deliberately alienated his girlfriend to the point that she left him, and - most critically - didn't tell anyone where he was going. His rage and despair at his predicament, and many attempts to break free, eventually give way to realisation that his predicament is entirely his fault. His arrogance and selfishness led him to this point.

As Ralston, James Franco gives an excellent performance in what is essentially a one-character film. He is fully convincing, particularly when the wince-inducing moment of limb severing finally arrives. Here Boyle is unflinching, rightly refusing to let the audience off easily in what he depicts, yet also treading a fine line so as not to alienate. It really is a squirm-inducing, cover-your-eyes moment, but I think it is necessary, or the film would have been dishonest. Besides, the moment comes after Ralston has something of a spiritual epiphany - a vision of the future - and that is what is foremost in the mind of the audience at this stage.

Speaking of spiritual matters, Ralston said in his novel on which this is based that he did not cry out to God in his hour of need, but for whatever reason the film nevertheless feels like a spiritual journey. Boyle himself is from a Catholic background so perhaps he unconsciously put some of this into his treatment of the subject matter. At any rate, the afore mentioned vision of the future, combined with a profound moment after the gruesome limb removal when Ralston says thank you to the boulder that had trapped him, add a certain ambiguity to proceedings. It is as though God allowed him to be trapped so that he would realise the truth of his lonely existence and learn to value other people. Certainly the lesson was learned, for his vision of the future ultimately came true. As far as I know, the real Aron Ralston did not find God, but I pray that one day he will.

In short, this is a grisly but gripping tale of arrogance lost and courage found; not just the courage to cut off a limb as an animal caught in a trap would, but the courage to engage with others. It only remains for me to add an obligatory warning for bad language to those who appreciate such warnings, though to my mind the swearing was not gratuitous.