Into the Wild - Review

Just watched Into the Wild… finally! It came within an hours drive of me so I set off, Into the Theater… (spoilers coming, so stop reading if you don’t know the story)

It really is a great rendition of the book. I felt many of the same emotions that I had when reading the story. Sean Penn did a great job directing this one and if Hal Holbrook doesn’t get best supporting actor this year then something is broken in Tinseltown people…. BROKEN! Emlie Hirsch did a great job as McCandless and I really was impressed with his performance too.

Synopsis:
If I had to sum the movie up in 3 sentences, here is what I’d say. Christopher McCandless had a rough childhood. He set out on a physical and emotional journey to find himself and to resolve his inner demons. In the end he was ill prepared and made a series of bad decisions that ended him.

That’s it. But the real story in this book/film is that he spends so much time trying to get away from meaningful relatinoships and all he can seem to do is make connections with people. It’ll make you cry if you have a heart. And you’ll be pissed off at him if you have a brain. There are a few sprinklings of nudity and an animal got field dressed. Just thought you should know it’s not for the kids or people who don’t like naked bodies or blood. What did McCandless realize at the end of his stint in the wild?…. “Happiness is only real when shared.”

My wife has a great way of simplifying these complex stories with great one liners. So I’ll quote her since she summed things up so well as we walked out of the theater.

“Wow, all that, and he could have just gone to a therapist…”

6 comments October 30th, 2007