We've all thought about it at one time or another - skipping town, abandoning our mindless jobs, going to a place where nobody knows us, throwing caution to the wind and heading on a spontaneous adventure through the great outdoors. For many of us, this journey into the wild will never amount to more than a passing fantasy, in the same realm as bedding a celebrity or winning big in the lottery. But for Christopher McCandless, this idea just couldn't be shaken - and so, in the early 1990s, the well-off Emory University grad left home without a peep, changed his name (to Alexander Supertramp, of all things), gave his $24,000 life savings to charity, and spent the next two years on a quest for the Alaskan wilderness.
His fascinating story is the focus of "Into The Wild," the latest writing/directing vehicle for Sean Penn (
"The Pledge"), based on the gripping bestseller by Jon Krakauer. Regardless of whether you think Chris is a daring idealist or raging nut (perhaps a little of both?), you're likely to find something relatable in this portrait of a man in search of a greater purpose. The result is a touching if sometimes ponderous feature that plays like the movie version of a Bob Dylan song.
Emile Hirsch, in his most poignant, layered performance to date, plays the film's impulsive protagonist. His worldly green eyes paired with a patchy beard allude to the yin and yang of his character - the ambitious philosopher who scoffs at possessions and the naïve child who can't survive without them. On his way to the "last frontier," he meets a few interesting people from South Dakota to California who lend him a hand and the film some humor: There's Wayne (Vince Vaughn), a law-dismissing worker with an infectious zest for life; a nurturing hippie couple (Catherine Keener and Brian Dierker); and an old recluse (Hal Holbrook) who drives him to his final desired destination.
"Into The Wild" is first narrated by Chris and later by his doting sister (Jena Malone). His parents (William Hurt and Marcia Gay-Harden) are a couple of Shallow Hals (in a flashback, they express interest in trading his beloved, beaten-up Datsun for a new and improved car, mainly for status purposes) and a few monologues suggest that they are a big reason for Chris' departure from shallow suburbia. But that somehow doesn't seem like a legit explanation - a select few people had a childhood they'd love to revisit, and they don't head for the trees a la Anthony Hopkins in "Instinct." Penn seems uncomfortable with the fact that there very well might not
be a reason. Something tells me he's not alone.
Despite that need for a projected cause, Penn does almost everything right. He mostly lets the time-jumping story tell itself, with the help of Eddie Vedder's growling acoustics (the Pearl Jammer wrote and performed original songs for the flick) and the gorgeous scenic shots from cinematographer Eric Gautier, who previously turned a landscape into an art form in "The Motorcycle Diaries." Everything from the snow-capped mountain tops to the untamed, rippling rivers add a crucial core to the story - it's easy to see why, much like the would-be jumpers were lured to the Golden Gate Bridge in Eric Steel's 2006 documentary
"The Bridge," Chris simply couldn't resist its force.
"Into The Wild" is like Jack Kerouac's "On The Road" as relayed by Terrence Malick, which is fitting since Penn appeared in his war epic
"The Thin Red Line" (it spent a little too much time zooming in on blades of grass for my liking). But the film takes the best elements of those things and turns it into something at once inspiring and disturbing. "Into The Wild" will not speak to everyone, but if you listen carefully, you'll walk away with either a desire for your own impassioned adventure or a sudden appreciation for the monotony of everyday life. Either way, you won't return from this trip empty-handed.
