Into the Wild
Rated: R
Runtime: 2 hours, 20 minutes
Directed by: Sean Penn
Starring:
Emile Hirsch - Christopher McCandless / Alexander Supertramp
Marcia Gay Harden - Billie McCandless
William Hurt - Walt McCandless
Jena Malone - Carine McCandless
Brian Dierker - Rainey
Catherine Keener - Jan Burres
Vince Vaughn - Wayne Westerberg
Kristen Stewart - Tracy
Hal Holbrook - Ron Franz
Despite hearing excellent things about Into The Wild, I heard that the film would divide people based on how they felt about the distinctive choice made by Christopher McCandless to go off the grid, give up the material world, give up human relationships, and give up everything but his own survival on his way to his Mecca: Alaska. If you agreed with Chris' choice, you would like the film. If you disagreed, you wouldn't like the film. And after seeing the film, I don't think that distinction could be more unimportant and perhaps even possible to make.
Chris is an enigma and the beauty of this adaptation and Penn's direction is that it wants to keep Chris an enigma and not try to decipher or judge or dissect his life. Into the Wild is not an inspirational movie nor is it a cautionary tale. It's simply the story of a confused boy struggling to find truth in order to become a man. Emile Hirsch walks the fine line between giving us a range of Chris' emotions but always keeping us at a distance. We're always interested in Chris but we rarely understand him. It's a masterful performance, especially for an actor so young.
The film could have easily lapsed into Chris doing a voice over-narration as he talks to us about his thoughts and experiences but Penn wisely opts to instead give the majority of the narration to Chris' sister Carine (Jena Malone). Carine is not omniscient and her words, while providing insight into Chris' homelife and what possibly drove him into the wild, gives more insight into how Chris touched her life and how she's a sister who misses the brother that he loves. It's relationships like this one and the ones he forms during his travels that only deepen the mystery. He wants to live his life away from people and society but he touches the lives of everyone he meets.
It's a magnetic pull and Penn's best directorial effort to date. There's no solving the mystery of Christopher McCandless but no character study this year is more engrossing, thoughtful, and powerful.
Words by
Matt Goldberg
9.26.07