Two years ago, Danny Boyle went into the Toronto Film Festival with an unheralded film called “Slumdog Millionaire,” and came out with momentum that would carry him all the way to a Best Picture win at the Oscars. He returned to Toronto two months ago with “127 Hours,” which has prompted rave reviews (plus scattered reports of audience members fainting) along the way to a limited opening on Friday.
Boyle’s film about Aron Ralston, the hiker who was trapped by a boulder in a remote Utah canyon for five days, is clearly a major player in the Oscar race, with James Franco’s performance as Ralston installing him as one of the Best Actor favorites.