Into The Wild

This is the sort of movie that I would call an EXPERIENCE movie.
It's good on so many levels, Story, Inspiration, Acting, Directing, Message and so on.
One of the most though provoking films I've ever seen.
Where on earth Emile Hirsch's Oscar nomination went, I have no idea. Shocking.
Sean Penn's Direction is Perfect for the story.
Each and Everyone of the Supporting Cast is Wonderful.

I watched this film after a friend recommended it to me. This proved he has excellent taste in movies because after watching this i couldn't help shaking my head in awe. I mean, my jaw was somewhere around my bellybutton for a good twenty minutes after the endscredits crawled across the screen.

It's a relatively simple tale of a young man who felt that his own inner thoughts, and feelings, were completely incompatible with the outside world, with all its brute idiocy and brash negativity. He was an enthusiastic and insightful person who didn't look down his nose at anyone but just couldn't bring himself to accept the everyday mediocrities and cruelties that the rest of us take for granted. So with a fearless determination he sets out into the real world, alone, afraid but unwavering.

Even as he escapes in the flashbacks we see his current predicament, iornically trapped in the wild by nature and ultimately his own lack of experience. He's still young and naive and Emile Hirsch does a great job of expressing these failings, along with the young man's strengths, without ever being too on-the-nose.

Catherine Keener has always been one of my favourite female actors, she's beautiful and she brings a natural flair to drama and comedy with confident ease. She fills a somewhat motherly role yet at the same time is as damaged and tormented as the young adventurer. William Hurt plays a difficult man to understand, a reserved conservative and emotionally detached father who despite his many failings has a good heart blackened with bitteness. An emotional scene where the reality of his son's new life literally brings him to his knees in silent agony made me cry because hurt has always been powerfully restrained, just like his character in this film, and to see both character and actor break the dam and allow the pain to rush forth brought my own pain to the surface too. It was cathartic.

The climax of the film is very much that; a powerful and heart-stopping finale to a film that surpasses two hours yet seems to flit by in an instant.

Sean Penn should be proud of directing and crafting a film that can easily be regarded as one of the most beautiful films of the century. The gorgeous landscapes across which the young nomad travels are captured with almost delicate adoration, the "wild" into which he journeys almost a character itself.

I will watch this film again, and even knowing of the tragedies and triumphs that befall these lovely people in this small, tender film, I will still feel a connection that most Oscar-wannabe movies could only dream to master, dare to emulate, and fail miserably at even coming close to.

Buy it now.

I just watched this film and im so glad i did.i remember hearing about it couple of years ago,but i never watched it.i backpacked around australia last year and it was the best thing i ever did.you do meet random people and have great experiences that you will never forget.im very glad i watched it and it just shows,how one little mistake can turn into such a tragedy.a great film and a must to watch.......

Into the Wild is an amazing film. It's not an action film, it's not about horror, its not a drama. Its just true. This film is about a man who is so sick of our materialistic and selfish world and decides that he doesn't need money or expensive cars. He rips up his ID and his credit cards, gives his savings to charity and leaves.
He goes on the most increidable journey to Alaska to live off the land and he meets people along the way who are considered weird and outcasts, but who he shares a bond with. When I was first told about this movie, I had never heard of it, but having watched it I would reccomend it to everyone.
How many of us have dreamed, at one point or another, of just getting in our car and leaving all of this behind? Well this guy actually did it.

Into the Wild is a film about the last few years of Christopher McCandless's life; which was spent wandering aimlessly around the North American wilderness meeting all kinds of free thinking and free loving, tax dodging vagrants. Christopher, or Alex, as he is better known in the film, was from a privileged background. He ignobly decided to reject materialism and fall off the grid. Alex is an unsympathetic character, and throughout the film I struggled to muster not only sympathy, but also a semblance of comprehension as to why Alex took the path that he did, in such a brutally selfish manner. In a lesser film, this fact alone could ruin what follows entirely, but Emile Hirsch gives and incredibly tuned in and dedicated performance as Chris/Alex. The high level of this central performance helps to turn a dislikeable real life person into a complicated and interesting character whose stunning journey exceeds the limitations of his rather naïve, dubious, hurtful and silly motivations.

Emile Hirsch is the heart of this film and it excels because of his performance. There are, of course, other elements in the film which are exemplary, the supporting characters (for the most part) have limited screen time, but are all well written and form an important piece of Alex's puzzle. Particularly memorable are the quirky Danish couple that Alex encounters while canoeing his way to old Mexico. The soundtrack is brilliant and evocative and the cinematography is equally triumphant, dude. An early third act wobble with a tacked on romance and a regurgitation of already expended hippie characters is quickly remedied by a tremendously uplifting and moving encounter with an elderly loner (Hal Halbrook). His wisdom is inspirational to Alex; whose eagerness and vitality, in turn, rejuvenates the ageing recluse. It's a beautiful segment that provides the luxurious and creamy topping on an already tasty chocolate cake.

Into the Wild is a slow paced and well assembled film. Just as the film lingers, so do the questions that it raises. There is inspiration to be found here, a moving and unusual fiction that is more effecting and noble than the reality on which it is based. I personally rate Into the Wild as the second best film of 2007, sandwiched neatly in between Jesse James and Ian Curtis.