I think 127 Hours is going to be a tough commercial sale, given that it's both about a guy who cuts off his own hand to escape being trapped by rocks, and that it's a one-man show, but it's precisely for the latter reason that I'm excited to see it:
That kind of pressure is so rare. One of the most astonishing theater performances I've ever seen was Anne Scurria's turn as the Homebody in the premiere of Tony Kushner's Homebody/Kabul. The role involves opening the play with an hour-long monologue. Nobody else is on stage. The emotional range of the act is huge. I have no idea how anyone can perform a feat of memorization like that without even someone else on stage whose reactions or physical movements could provide points of reference, or how they can keep up the energy across the whole monologue. Something like 127 Hours is easier, of course, since James Franco gets takes so the whole thing can be done multiple times and chunked out. But still, the charisma to carry a whole movie's got to be considerable.