This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 5th, 2008 at 11:02 am and is filed under Drama, I, Movie Reviews, NEW ON VIDEO, True Stories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
Director: Sean Penn
Starring: Emile Hirsch, Marcia Gay Harden, William Hurt, Jena Malone, Hal Holbrook, Kristen Stewart, Vince Vaughn, Brian H. Dierker, Catherine Keener
Writer /director Sean Penn is behind this slow, but somewhat captivating road movie based on Jon Krakauer’s book, which was inspired by a true story from the early 90s. The film is pretentious, as road films often are, and is filled with old-fashioned montages (is this because of its 90s setting? maybe), and some very nice cinematography. The story is tortoise-like in its pace and doesn’t have much going on, but some well-written dialog for the shorter roles really makes this an actor’s movie. The whole cast shines, including Hal Holbrook, who received an Oscar nomination for his labor, which only involved about fifteen minutes or so, of screen time. Lead Emile Hirsch (Alpha Dog) impresses with an execution that evokes images of Leonardo Di Caprio
Hirsch plays an intelligent and likable recent college graduate, Chris McCandless, who is struggling with the insincerity and cruelty of our culture, due to difficulties with his wealthy suburbanite parents (Marcia Gay Harden and William Hurt). His solution is to drop out of society and embark upon some kind of rough-hewn, trial-by-fire, spiritual journey that involves leaving his identity behind and leading a gypsy lifestyle that culminates in living off the land in Alaska. Along the way he has various experiences and meets some interesting people. The story mostly manages to stay away from tired formulas and is told mainly in flashbacks and with a great deal of voice over narration that I suspect comes from excerpts from the Krakauer’s book.
Into The Wild offers the viewer a very visual, and romanticized, vision of rugged individualism. Many viewers will find this journey to be painfully slow, and may not appreciate the wisdom and message that the motion picture tries to share. Opinions are split on Into The Wild being a waste of time or a moving masterpiece. It did eventually draw me in, but it’s unlikely that I will ever watch it again.
