TIFF First Looks: ‘127 Hours,’ ‘What’s Wrong with Virginia,’ ‘The Conspirator’ and More

James Franco in 127 Hours
Photo: Fox Searchlight

Things are moving at a quick clip when it comes to the Toronto International Film Festival so you can be assured several more posts like this will be arriving in the next few days as I have several images from all of the films that will be showing at the festival and will begin debuting them as things progress. This post offers looks at four more…

First, Danny Boyle’s 127 Hours starring James Franco, Clemence Poesy (In Bruges, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Amber Tamblyn (The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants) and Kate Mara (Brokeback Mountain).

I already talked a lot about this film in today’s earlier updated line-up announcement so you can read up on it there if you wish. Here I will just tell you I have the brand new image directly above and the following synopsis provided by the festival:

127 Hours is the true story of mountain climber Aron Ralston’s (James Franco) remarkable adventure to save himself after a fallen boulder crashes on his arm and traps him in an isolated canyon in Utah. Over the next five days Ralston examines his life and survives the elements to finally discover he has the courage and the wherewithal to extricate himself by any means necessary.

You can get a full-sized look at the image above by clicking here.

Jennifer Connelly and Ed Harris in What’s Wrong with Virginia

Written and directed by Milk screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, What’s Wrong with Virginia serves as Black’s directorial debut and features the likes of Jennifer Connelly, Ed Harris, Emma Roberts, Harrison Gilbertson and Amy Madigan. The film centers on a sheriff (Harris) whose state senate bid is jeopardized when his daughter begins to date the son of a psychologically disturbed woman with whom the sheriff has engaged in a two-decade affair.

Below is a more detailed synopsis from the festival:

Jennifer Connelly stars as Virginia, a charming yet mentally ill mother whose greatest love is her protector and illegitimate son, Emmett (Harrison Gilbertson). Richard Tipton (Ed Harris), the local married Mormon sheriff, who is running for public office, might very well be Emmett’s father. This boardwalk town’s peculiar secrets are threatened when Virginia’s son begins a romantic relationship with Tipton’s daughter (Emma Roberts) sending mother and son on a mad dash to seize their own brand of the American Dream – guns blazing.

You can get a full-sized look at the image above by clicking here.

Robin Wright in The Conspirator

Directed by Robert Redford, The Conspirator stars James McAvoy, Robin Wright, Kevin Kline, Evan Rachel Wood and Tom Wilkinson and tells the story of Mary Surratt, alleged conspirator of Abraham Lincoln assassin John Wilkes Booth. Just below is the synopsis as provided by the festival. This is one title that will be looking hard for a distributor as many believe it has a serious chance at award season glory.

While an angry nation seeks vengeance, a young union war hero must defend a mother accused of aiding her son in the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.

You can get a full-sized look at the image above by clicking here.

Will Ferrell in Everything Must Go

Everything Must Go from first-time writer/director Dan Rush is based on the Raymond Carver short story and puts Will Ferrell back in a dramatic light opposite the likes of Rebecca Hall, Michael Pena and Laura Dern.

This film will also be looking for distribution.

After 16 years devising motivational speeches that promise certain success, Nick Porter (Will Ferrell) is abruptly fired. He returns home to discover his wife has left him, changed the locks on their home and dumped all his possessions on the front yard. Nick puts it all on the line – or, more properly, on the lawn – with an absurdly escalating garage sale that becomes a unique strategy for survival. Nick comes face-to-face with a life turned inside out and discovers in total exposure an unexpected path to renewal.

You can get a full-sized look at the image above as well as three other images from the film right here.

For a complete list of the currently announced films at the festival click here.