rock on

Yesterday we saw a good movie, but not exactly a fun one! "127 Hours" – the story of a hiker who is pinned down by a rockslide in the desert and ultimately . . . well, you probably know the story, but I'll obey convention and assume not. True story, from the autobiographical book Between a Rock and a Hard Place – if ever there was a natural title, that's it.

What an acting job. James Franco.

It's close to a masterpiece technically, considering the extreme limitations: most of the movie is a wordless soliloquy by an actor stuck in one place. If it weren't for occasional flashbacks, it might have been unwatchable. As it is, it's kind of a Beckett play with occasional invasions from Peckinpah . . . a movie that cineastes will be talking about for a long time. But you'd have to be a masochist to want to see it twice. Maybe a sadist as well.

I thought it was a new release, but Googling I find that it's been out since 7 November 10. It opened on only four screens, which tells you something about the studio's commercial expectations.

Joe