Into the Wild (2007) User Reviews

missing the point...

[komic09 · 8/10 · 22 December 2009]

I'm finding it hard to see why this film has taken such a tongue lashing (or keyboard lashing) by some people...

mostly it is said that the main character is selfish and self indulgent, and that this film builds him up to be some kind of hero..

but I think that's missing the point...

through-out I was thinking about how, on one hand it was admirable that he wanted to break from the materialistic, money grabbing oppressive shackles placed on us by modern society, but on the other, how he had gone about it in such an irresponsible, hurtful and self-righteous way...

the way he abandoned his parents and loving sister without a phone call note or explanation, and from the people he met along the way, like the kind old man and young romance, especially compounded this...

and ultimately he realised this at the end by scribbling into a book, "happiness only real when shared" surely that is the lesson here! that his selfish, hurtful adolescent behaviour was wrong, and he ultimately paid a terrible cost.

So ignore that haters...they are looking at this story the wrong way! Very much worth an open minded viewing!

TIFF07, review 3: Facing the blind deaf stone alone Into the Wild

[jaredmobarak · 9/10 · 16 September 2007]

Sean Penn's new movie Into the Wild arrives on the wave of a well-regarded novel about a college graduate who decides that the anger and violence in civilized society is too much to handle and commences a journey through nature in order to truly live life as it was meant to be. This film is a wonderful glimpse into the life of a kid, wise beyond his years, and the bonds that he creates with people along the way. A victim of excess in wealth and a shortage of love, Christopher McCandless hid inside his mind behind knowledge and philosophy, building up his intellectual strength, as well as the physical, in order to complete his trek, ultimately leading him to Alaska. Penn never falls into the trap of showing too much heartbreak on the side of McCandless's parents, because he doesn't want the audience to second-guess the decision he made. There is no debate to be had here, our protagonist has no alternative but to get out and live off the land. Only being completely self-sufficient can he grasp a meaning for his life and one day perhaps go back with that knowledge fully learned.

Emile Hirsch is absolutely brilliant with his good-natured attitude and affable charm. His character believes that human contact is not necessary for happiness and never seeks out relationships. However, his character is so likable that they find him and latch on, not to change his mind, but to experience his level of being and hopefully learn something from him and help enlarge his vocabulary on life. The people he meets help him to fully grasp the decision of life in the wild and be able to survive it. Never coming off condescendingly to those he crosses paths with, Hirsch always holds a smile on his face. One scene, where he meets up with a couple of people from Europe, proves how contagious a clear outlook on life without the troubles of societal restraints can be. These three kids have a blast, if only for a few minutes—with Hirsch being chased by the police for rafting with no license—and it makes one wonder if maybe we all should take a journey into nature and feel the freedom and full warmth of heart that a lack of stress to succeed in the business world can give.

All the supporting players are magnificent at helping show the side to McCandless that Penn needs on display to succeed. Hal Holbrook, Brian Dierker, and Catherine Keener are by far the best of these side characters with Vince Vaughn and Kirsten Stewart adding some charm too. Dierker, Keener, and Stewart play hippie, flower-child type roles and allow Hirsch to show off how modest and unselfish he is. This is the family he deserved to have from birth and he is the son they wished their lives had earned them. At their best, all four together give some of the most emotionally charged moments in the film. Holbrook, on-the-other-hand, helps give insight into the philosophy that Hirsch needs to live with in order to survive the loneliness, looking him in the face, to come in Alaska. It is truly fascinating to see how every person adds something to his overall experience and to the tools he needs.

Hirsch deserves a lot of credit because he truly outshines the film itself with his dedication and sacrifice to the role. The length of time needed to allow him the ability to lose the weight necessary for a main plot point in the movie is crazy. If the time wasn't that long and Hirsch did it all rapidly, I'm even more impressed. With all that, there are many instances free of dialogue that he needs to carry with body language and actions alone. True, much of this is enhanced by a wonderful soundtrack from Eddie Vedder, but evenso it is a remarkable performance. Kudos to Sean Penn for a gorgeous filming job also. He captures the countryside with grace, while infusing many moments of visual style by slow-motioning glimpses, knowing when to show the family left behind, utilizing informative and essential voice-over, and even breaking the fourth wall. When Hirsch first looks into the camera, at the audience, it does not seem unnatural in the slightest, but instead an amazing link for the viewers to take a look into his soul like those that crossed his path have. McCandless is so pure that it almost feels like glimpsing the calm protectiveness of God.

Touching

[gbill-74877 · 9/10 · 10 July 2019]

Stunning scenery, brilliant directing from Sean Penn, soulful songs from Eddie Vedder, and a remarkable, true story. Christopher McCandless (Emile Hirsch) is a college graduate from an affluent upbringing who decides to abandon his possessions and money and to live life out on the road, ala Jack London or Jack Kerouac during parts of their lives. He's a fascinating character because of his idealism and his nonconformity; he's intelligent and kind, and yet he doesn't value human relationships, preferring solitude and a deep connection to nature. Hirsch plays the part very well, displaying an easy, personable warmth but at the same time a determination to go his own way, damn the consequences. He also really looks the part, including scenes where he had to lose quite a bit of weight. His character is troubled from an upbringing that was riddled with strife, and in one moments says so simply (and sadly) "Some people feel like they don't deserve love. They walk away quietly into empty spaces, trying to close the gaps of the past," and yet we get the feeling that is just one aspect of a complicated and yet simple guy.

I think some people are turned off by what they feel was a glorification, but I didn't feel that way at all. We see the trail of tears he leaves behind him, with his parents and sister devastated by not hearing from him, and him ignoring some of the kindly advice he receives along the way. He is also brutal to an old man (Hal Holbrook) who so very generously offers to adopt him, in what is a fantastic scene. Holbrook is also brilliant when he tells the young man "when you forgive, you love." We see him take risks which pay off (kayaking down a rampaging river), and of course others which do not (going into the true wild of Alaska without a map or enough preparation). For that he is sometimes vilified or mocked, but I admired him for not conforming like the rest of us, and for living life on his own terms. He certainly was not cheated. And in the end, he has his moment of realization, that "happiness (is) only real when shared", which is a moment that is incredibly poignant.

I loved the literary references in the film, starting with the title card quoting Byron, which seems so perfect: "There is a pleasure in the pathless woods; / There is a rapture on the lonely shore; / There is society, where none intrudes, / By the deep sea, and music in its roar; / I love not man the less, but Nature more..."

And at the end as I thought about McCandless's life, I thought that this passage from Thoreau was nowhere more suitable: "Why should we be in such desperate haste to succeed, and in such desperate enterprises? If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away."

Real American Beauty - an exceptional movie

[dinglis-2 · 10/10 · 10 September 2007]

I've never posted a comment regarding a movie but feel compelled to after attending a screening of Into The Wild at the Toronto Film Festival last night. I won't speak to story here as it's covered in the other comments.

This is a movie of real beauty. It made me cry. I felt moved in a way that happens very rarely. It was an inspiration.

The feelings it evoked were all based on the power of the acting and the writing. The words were real and human. The relationships seemed real and human. This may not seem like a great feat - but I consider it a true rarity. It didn't feel calculated and artificial, like so many movies (read: Crash - but I'm not here to bash that...). It was very organic, natural and (I can't say it enough) just beautiful. Cripes, it's making me sound like a hippie, for heaven's sake. This for me was Penn's best work since Indian Runner.

What it reminded me of...

• Terence Malik - Herzog? - in a strange way Cassavettes? - Hal Ashby (more Coming Home than Harold & Maude...) - even a bit of Ken Loach

• Ruby in Paradise - Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore - Five Easy Pieces - Easy Rider

... but when I list those it's not because of plot similarities (though there are some) or style (although I think you can definitely see the influence of some great films) - it's again because of the heart of it. I heard a few people at the screening comment that the film was "too long" but I don't agree. I think exploring a journey of this magnitude required visiting all of the people he touched and taking the time to see the land.

Hal Holbrook was just perfect, as was the cast as a whole, and I think Emile Hirsch is really going places - he was fantastic and he owned the role. Eddie Vedder's music worked perfectly as well - not distracting or quirky - just a part of the whole.

The film received a standing ovation and quite a few tears were shed. Magic.

Justice done.

[trigger_jam · 10/10 · 8 October 2007]

The sensitivity with which Krakauer captured the essence of McCandless and his adventure is extended aptly to the movie format by Sean Penn. Even if one might not be able to appreciate the purpose for Alex's journey, I don't think anyone would be able to deny that Into the Wild is a sensitive and poignant cinematic experience. There are scenes in this movie that one will never be able to forget, particularly the ending sequence. This movie will easily pull its audience into a philosophical debate for the truth about who was right and wrong isn't easy to distinguish. Sean Penn certainly doesn't try to answer those questions, questions that McCandless' life left for his family and the rest of us. Penn does well to tread a delicate objective but not indifferent line. Certainly the best movie of this year and one of the best ever made. The story, the story itself is great.

Beautiful Film, Even Better Than The Book

[ccthemovieman-1 · 10/10 · 21 July 2009]

For a movie to be even better than a good book is no small feat. Yet, that's how I felt after watching this film. It really impressed me. One of the reasons is the fantastic cinematography. Man, this is a beautifully filmed and, at 142 minutes, there are a lot of great scenes to admire.

Sean Penn directed and Eddie Gautier was the Director Of Photography. I can't stand Penn as a person but fair-is-fair and I think he's great as a director, having seen his work in "The Pledge" and "The Crossing Guard." The main actor, Emile Hirsch, who plays "Chris McCandless" (a.k.a. "Alexander Supertramp" reminded me of Leonardo DiCaprio with his looks, build and voice inflection. He is very credible as the young guy who wants nothing to do with materialistic society and dreams of living in the wilds of Alaska. The problem was that he was unprepared and underestimated what he was up against.

Two people who fascinated me the most in here were two extremes, age-wise - Hal Holbrook and Kristen Stewart. It was really great to see the veteran Holbrook ("Ron France") again. He was about 82 when he made this film and hadn't acted in a film in a few years. He was terrific, too. He had some of the most memorable scenes in the story. Meanwhile, teenager Stewart was captivating as "Tracy Tatro," who had a crush on "Alex." This young woman is on her way to stardom.

Brian Dierker and Catherine Keener also were really, really interesting as the aging hippie couple, "Rainey" and "Jan." I kept thinking, I know this guy when listening to Dierker's voice, finally guessing it was Jeff Bridges underneath all the beard....but it Dierker, a guy who rarely acts in films.

Knowing the book, the only part of the film that caught be off-guard was the young Swedish couple. I don't remember them in the book but I'll never forget this in this film!! One could debate the pros and cons of Chris McCandless for hours, so no sense going into that here. I thought the film was pretty kind to him. You read more in the book about how he hurt a lot of people with his silence. Either way, it's a a fascinating story and a beautiful film.

Sneaks Up On You

[shark-43 · 10/10 · 24 October 2007]

INTO THE WILD definitely works as a film - I had read the book so I certainly knew the tragic story of this young man's life but I was blown away by the performances. In fact, to have this young talent Emile Hirsch working with the old, legendary Hal Holbrook makes the film a must see - in fact, their scene near the end in the truck is one of the best pieces of acting I have ever seen on film - Holbrook is amazing there. He deserves a Best Supporting Actor nomination (but probably won't get it). The film is by no means perfect - there are pacing problems but Penn does use the flashbacks incredibly well and the film builds power as it goes along. Hirsch is so real - I remember noticing how talented he was in the indie flick Dangerous Life Of Altar Boys and I also thought he was very good in the so-so Alpha Dog film. But Penn gets a terrific performance out of him as well as Catherine Keener, Vince Vaughn, Wm. Hurt, Kirsten Stewart, jena Malone and everyone else for that matter. I can see how this film might not be for every one, but I was very moved by it and days later - certain images and moments stayed with me. Penn is getting better as a filmmaker with each movie he makes.

Blind hero-worship of an idiot (spoilers)

[Ricky_Roma__ · 7 December 2007]

Christopher McCandless lived a silly life and died a silly death. Here was a guy who gave his savings to Oxfam, left home without uttering a word to his family and who thought salvation lay in the wilderness. Too bad, then, that he ate the wrong type of plant and carked it.

All the time we're told what complete bastards McCandless' parents are. They drove Christopher into the wild. But what was their crime? Apparently they argued some, even lied a little and their children were born out of wedlock. Okay, they're not the best parents in the world, but do they deserve the harsh treatment that their son dishes out – no letters, no postcards, no phone calls?

Well, if you're a massive jerk and you're somehow unable to comprehend that human relationships are more complicated than a simple 'they're good' or 'they're bad', then you may be able to build a case for young Christopher, but if you have any depth of feeling in your soul, you may well think that McCandless punished his parents beyond anything that is reasonable. And also remember that he never contacted his beloved sister. She got the silent treatment as well. However, we have a scene where Christopher goes to call her, but instead he gives his quarter to an old man who is running out of change. What a great guy, we're asked to think. See how he lends a helping hand to strangers. But what about his poor sister, the person who loves him most in the world? This apparently is his one feeble attempt to reach out and tell her that he's okay.

But no, Christopher is determined to live alone in the wilderness - to find himself. He wants to escape from a sick society where people treat each other poorly. Hell, his parents even have the nerve to offer to buy him a new car and pay for a Harvard education. Those phonies. Those shallow fakers who give him a home to live in and money to spend. How disgusting they are.

Okay, so fair enough, the parents that we're presented with here are stiff, middle class dweebs who are more interested in appearances than anything of any substance, but what had me shaking my head was the assertion that Christopher's disappearance made them better people. Suddenly they're thoughtful and united and in tune with one another. Yes, that's what every strained marriage needs – their children to put them through a couple of years of hell.

But what I find most objectionable is the romanticising of the wilderness. Is this the only way that anyone can find themselves, by opening their arms and standing on the edge of a mountain and by kayaking down a river? Isn't there any other way? Apparently not. We even get a scene where Christopher, briefly stranded in LA, looks into a restaurant populated by smarmy bastards and sees a yuppie version of himself. You see what he'd become if he stayed in the city? Hunting moose and talking to hippies is the only way to become a rounded individual.

But the disaffection with society in this film is incredibly adolescent. In one scene, Christopher and a buddy of his just start impotently shouting 'society!' Yeah, society sucks and the wilderness is great. The wilderness never starved anyone, ate anyone or froze their balls off. In the eyes of every bear and moose is truth and beauty, and on the cold streets of civilisation is a steady flow of lies and deceit.

However, at the end, Christopher maybe finally begins to understand that his quest is full of crap. He writes something along the lines that happiness is meaningless if you don't have someone to share it with. It took you all that time to figure that out? That human connections are what make life bearable? You could have found that out back home, sitting on your couch in your underpants, stuffing Cheetos down your throat.

But of course, it's the journey that matters, isn't it? And what a tedious journey it is. Christopher meets hippies and quirky foreigners (who are good) and men with badges (who are bad). He helps people like a shaggy-haired Littlest Hobo and enjoys the milk of human kindness. Well, he enjoys the milk of human kindness as long as the people are poor. Everyone who has no money in this film is an insightful, kind-hearted, itinerant poet. Plus none of the hippies he meets are smelly, ugly, incoherent bastards who drown in their own drug-fuelled nonsense. No, they're inspiring people, who plaster their vehicles with outdated sentiments like 'freedom', 'peace' and 'love'.

But it's notable that there's a moment when even a bear won't eat Christopher. Supposedly the bear turns his nose up at him because the kid stays calm or perhaps because he's so sick he doesn't smell that good. But I'd like to think that the bear turns his nose up because it's BS he can smell, and lots of it.

However, as we all know from Timothy Treadwell, bears don't mind a bit of BS, but alas the film can't even come close to the genius of Grizzly Man, a film that shows you're no closer to finding reality in the wilderness than you are on the city streets. The problem here is that Penn is celebrating McCandless' folly instead of investigating it. Not for one moment are we asked to consider that this kid is perhaps a bit of an idiot. We're meant to find his journey inspiring and his plight tragic. But instead it's neither of those things. And at the end his death is elevated to grandiose status (it's shot like he's ascending to heaven, that he's communing with god). But in reality his death is what happens when a deluded moron tries to live in the wilderness without a map or enough food.

Captured his essence

[Lauriparker · 10/10 · 25 September 2007]

I read the book in 1996. Like others, it moved me profoundly. I created a series of prints of my interpretation of Chris. I haven't read the book since.

This film transported me right back to the spirit that Krakauer brought to life in the book. I spent a few years traveling alone from 1994-1996. This film reminded my why I left and why I returned. Ten years later, all grown up with all the crap, I'm haunted again by Chris. What a well done job.

Thank you Sean & John. You did it right.

By the way, try to catch Holly Figueroa's song "Dream in Red" inspired by Into The Wild.

A most unique...but not entirely pleasant viewing experience.

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 6 February 2020]

There is a certain irony to the story from "Into the Wild", as Hollywood, the land of excess, does a film about a man who got rid of all his possessions in order to live simply off the land. It would be like me (at 250 pounds) writing a diet book! Now I am not attacking Sean Penn or the film or any of the ones who made the film...but in general I just cannot associate Hollywood with the life of Christopher McCandless!

The story begins with Chris graduating from Emory University, a prestigious school in Georgia. Now you'd think he would be on the fast track to financial success...but instead he gives away nearly everything he has and heads into the wilderness to live a bit like a nomad. It seems Chris was tired of a life of acquiring things and wanted to live simply...and mostly alone. He also seemed to be running away from himself....or at least who he and his family were. Ultimately his life would take him from the American Southwest all the way to the wilds of Alaska. This tale is based on a true story, as told by Chris' sister in the film.

I think this is a movie where I enjoyed the style more than the story itself. I liked the simple style, the simple music and the mostly lesser-named stars in the picture. I also respect how much Emile Hirsch put himself out for the role...his weight loss throughout the movie was dramatic. As a trained therapist, however, I couldn't help but think the Chris would have benefited a lot from therapy before taking such a huge leap in his life. He was clearly, in an odd way, suicidal and I was concerned how the film seemed to romanticize this. Overall, an interesting but often unpleasant and overlong movie...worth seeing once but not a film I'd rush to recommend.

Real Life, Love

[kylesf49 · 10/10 · 7 October 2007]

Honestly let me just say this 1st Sean Pean made this story come to life, true life in every moment in the film. This movie has nothing wrong with it, it is perfect in every way shape and form. He did something that brought me to something I never could understand of what either i have to do or what i need to do in my life. If you want a movie from the heart this is it, if you want a movie of love this is it, if you want a movie with real life emotions well this is all of them. Its long but you'll probably want more when you don't want to leave your seat and just live in the moment of they story. So from my heart to yours this movie will speak to you know matter what.

"Is anybody here?"

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 6 November 2017]

I come away from this movie somewhat conflicted, not about the picture itself but of it's principal character, Christopher McCandless. I say that with some reservation as well, because when I was his age and fresh out of college, I spent a lot of time steeped in existentialist thought trying to figure out the meaning of life and how to conduct my own. In McCandless's case, there was also the family dysfunction at work, something that I never had to contend with growing up.

At the heart of the movie, I don't have a lot of problem with Chris's philosophy of "If you want something in life, reach out and grab it". The paradox in that statement occurred exactly at the time he was saying those words to guitarist Tracy (Kristen Stewart) who fell hard for Chris at the traveler's camp. She was 'reaching out to grab it' and things weren't going to work out for her in quite the same way. So life has it's way of throwing those kinds of curveballs at you.

No doubt some will find the message of uninhibited freedom and life without constraints to be an appealing one, but in the final analysis, doesn't the mere fact of existence require one to do the prudent thing? Chris McCandless's death was so unnecessary. Chances are, had he gone on to live say, a full five or ten years in the wild, he might have come to an entirely different conclusion about the meaning of his life and how to be a productive citizen of the world. His reading of Tolstoy offered a clue to an acceptable view of happiness - work which may be of some use, rest, nature, books and music. Loneliness didn't seem to be part of that equation.

The glorification of a mentally unstable kid who runs away from home

[Hold_On_Playa · 3/10 · 13 March 2008]

Besides the cinematography and music I completely hated Into The Wild. The following is a list that expresses this hatred toward the glorification of Chris Mccandless, a mentally unstable kid who runs away from home. Spoilers. 1. Chris teaches us that when you have problems at home, just run away. 2. Apparently he and his sister are the only kids to ever have to deal with fighting parents. 3. How could he just leave his sister? He obviously loved her and took care of her. But no, he leaves her there with his psycho parents. Never writes her or anything. 4. He was too scared to stand up to his father. He just ran and hid when his dad hit his mother. 5. He turned down a brand new car from his parents to keep a piece of crap. 6. "I don't need money." Umm lets see he needed money for a kayak. He worked for Vince Vaughn and Burger King for money so he could make it to Alaska. Just a little hypocritical there. 7. Apparently being a free-spirit makes you an expert kayaker. 8. Everyone he meets is the absolutely nicest person you could ever meet. 9. The male hippie's lines are laughably bad. 10. Male hippie tells Chris that he and female hippie are not doing good. Chris talks to male hippie for about 20 seconds and then goes swimming with female hippie. Male and female hippie go back to being completely in love. 11. The amount of times the word "Alaska" is uttered is just annoying. 12. Without the abandoned school bus he would have made it about a week. 13. Living in an abandoned school bus is not exactly living off the land, forgetting society. He slept on a friggin cot, had a place for a fire, and had sufficient shelter. 14. Man. Sitting there by yourself in an abandoned bus in the freezing cold. That's living man. Wow. 15. He thought he could make it in the Alaskan wilderness with no map. 16. His story is basically now a tale of what not to do with your life. 17. The only real thing he learned from his adventure is that "Happiness is only real when shared." Umm ya think? There's probably other ridiculous stuff from this movie that I forgot about. This movie makes this kid into some kind of hero when the only thing he accomplished was committing suicide.

One of the best movies I've ever seen

[suebasko · 11 September 2007]

One of the best movies I've ever seen. Beautiful, deep, true, adventurous, sad, occasionally funny, real, at times very touching. Based on a real-life novel, it is written and directed by Sean Penn. I have always loved the movie work of Sean Penn. Congratulations and thank you to Mr. Penn on giving me a few hours of though-provoking delight. Can you say Oscar? This movie says it loud and clear!

The story; Christopher McCandless, just graduated from college in the early 1990s, goes off on an adventure. He is smitten with books he reads—Thoreau, London, Byron. He wants no money, so he gives his to needy causes or burns it. Chris is cocky, driven, industrious.

He is traumatized by his parents' bad marriage. He tries to work through his anguish. He seems determined to destroy himself just to prove that he has different values than his parents. He is inconsiderate of his family and keeps them worried about his whereabouts and safety, as if a single reassuring phone call would ruin his rebellion. He fancies himself a philosopher, but acts the petulant child. It is a great credit to the film that we see these character flaws in our hero.

Off on the road, he makes a number of foolish choices – and suffers from some of them. Other foolish choices, such as daring to kayak a rapid river, bring him joy. He meets a lot of people and almost all are kind to him. His interactions with people are intense, the kind you have when you are planning to run off and disappear while you are still a mysterious entity. He avoids getting too close to anyone.

The movie is gorgeous. Mountains, plains, sky, rivers, animals. The acting is fantastic, totally believable. The actors are incredible and perfectly cast – Catherine Keener as an aging hippie vagabond, Vince Vaughn as a wacky farmer growing who knows what, William Hurt as Chris' potbellied suburbanite dad, Marcia Gay Harden as the type of mom who breeds children who wants to run off to the wilderness to escape from her. Emile Hirsch plays Chris, and does a great job of it. When an actual photo of the real Chris McCandless comes on screen, we see that Hirsch resembles him. Original songs by Eddie Vedder give the right feel – that of a well-to-do young white man heading out on a chosen adventure, getting gritty by choice. His goal is to get to Alaska, but on the way there, he hits many other states and Mexico, too.

Chris is a clueless kid from the warm South. He plans to go to Alaska, yet only arrives with any needed equipment because kind folks force it upon him – a machete, warm clothes, rubber boots. He's highly educated and gets good grades, yet, early on his trip, ignores a big sign that warns of flash floods. That prepares us that we are going to wince many times at his low level of common sense, while at the same time reveling in his physical strength and willingness to press on.

At one point, Chris passes through Los Angeles. He is dirty, hungry, tired, and goes to a downtown mission shelter. The other men there are also dirty, hungry, and tired, but not of their own choosing. It is not their adventure, it is their life. He realizes fast that he does not want to feel categorized with men who are in dire straits due to misfortune and not due to following their own adventure.

The movie shows Chris as an honorable young man. I do not want to give away any of the plot, so I'll just say – the young man has principles and so does the movie.

A few parts of the movie confused me. After Chris's college graduation, he meets h is parents at a restaurant. He brings with him a lovely young woman, obviously his date. Weirdly, it turns out that she is his sister!

There is more confusion when Chris picks up work on a farm run by Wayne, the Vince Vaughn character. What are they growing or doing? What's up?

There is an unintentionally funny scene where an old man tells Chris that he does not have time for adventures because he is too busy with leather. I thought the old guy was confessing being into whips and chaps. But no, he has a workshop where he tools leather.

There were a couple spots where the editing distracted from the movie. I saw a preview; maybe it was a rough cut. There's a scene on the farm where a triple screen is used – like a cheesy commercial.

Another scene, where Chris is eating an apple, is a series of jump cuts, which I really liked. It seemed an homage to French auteur filmmakers. But it ends with Chris mugging at the camera. With it, Sean Penn breaks the believability and acknowledges that yes, this is just us making a movie.

There is another part where Chris is in a car with the older man who is dropping him off. As they pull up, there is an inexplicable cutaway shot of what looks to be the head of a cannon.

Much of the movie is like a travel montage or music video involving mountains and sky. The scenes are so beautiful.

I know people that have elements of Chris in them. And I think I've met all the characters he runs into out on the road.

2008's Version of On the Road?

[mstomaso · 8/10 · 1 May 2008]

Who Is Chris McCandless? A true supertramp? An obsessive, emotionally damaged egomaniac? Suicidal thrill-seeker? A Kerouac-like drifter addicted to the search for an ever-evasive truth? A high-functioning schizophrenic? The 21st century youth culture reincarnation of John Gault? Or just a kid going through a difficult time and looking for some distance to sort it all out?

Sean Penn's pop-philosophical examination of this young man's voyage across America, to Alaska, and to the depths of his young soul will give you an interpretation at least. While it is not clear exactly whose interpretation we are seeing, it is very clear that Penn respects his subject and gave this film about as much thought and power as he could inject it with. And the film did remind me of something very true about the self-righteous naiveté of youth.

I am not concerned at all with the accuracy of the film, and, while it is tempting to compare this film to Werner Herzog's excellent but less fictionalized "Grizzly Man", the subjects are really too widely disparate; Herzog and Penn's perspective on humanity is too different to produce a meaningful comparison. The targets of this comparison, too big and too easy. But I will make one comment about the two films - Penn's film is much more or a tribute to its protagonist than Herzog's.

I found Into the Wild to be a gripping, thoughtful film. The script was good, but sometimes a bit pretentious - occasionally crossing the line between character development and character worship. Penn's direction and cinematography are masterful. The acting - every member of the cast included - is absolutely excellent.

Recommended - but not for light cheerful entertainment.

Oscar material

[h-talbot · 8/10 · 12 January 2008]

I watched this movie on the aeroplane after searching through the movie list and not finding anything else interesting to watch. I didn't even know what the film was called until the ending credits. However, what I saw was amazing - the acting and scenery was excellent and the plot was thought provoking. More people should watch this to appreciate the message to us all. I was also surprised to see it was was actually a true story which made it even more interesting (I love films that are based on true stories). It is one of the best movies i've seen that portrays the contrast between a materialistic world vs the natural world that is at the core of the universe. This is a film that can easily be overlooked but not forgotten.

One hell of a young man

[Chris Knipp · 9/10 · 22 September 2007]

Sean Penn's 'Into the Wild' is a passionate and faithful evocation of Jon Krakauer's book about Chris McCandless. It's the troubling and complex story of a young idealist and seeker who was also a rebellious child and beloved brother who gave away his $24,000 savings to Oxfam after college, went off in an old Datsun and left his family behind, and disappeared for two years wandering the country, only to be found by hunters dead of poisoning and starvation in an abandoned bus in the wilds of Alaska.

It's been said as a criticism of Penn's movie that it isn't as neutral about McCandless as Krakauers's book. It is true that Emile Hirsch as Chris, who called himself Alexander Supertramp on the road, is such a joyous and appealing character it's hard to focus on the arbitrariness and foolhardiness of the young man. Hirsch gives his all. He has shown his knack for playing bad good boys—particularly in 'Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys' and 'Lords of Dogtown'—and for playing wild misfits—in the little seen 'The Mudge Boy.' This is the first great role he's had, and he deserves it. His work is a wonderful melding of "negative capability" and generosity. It comes naturally to him to embody exuberance, boldness, and joy. If there was something off-putting or stern in the real-life McCandless, it's not very noticeable in Hirsch. But Hirsch's enthusiasm makes sense of the great adventure and self-discovery this story recounts. (Sadly, McCandless never seemed more ready to embrace life, and to overcome all his doubts about people and family, than right near his end.) All the faults McCandless had and mistakes he made made are there in the story as Penn tells it; if he has altered facts (and necessarily left some out), he hasn't done so to make the young man's plans seem clearer or his choices wiser, and the movie is replete with specific detail.

'Into the Wild,' true, is itself a little on the wild and loud side, with its occasionally obtrusive Eddie Vedder soundtrack, it's insanely vivid characters—like the young Danish couple on the banks of the Colorado, Vince Vaughan's intense, grinning grain farmer, Hal Holbrook's fabulously sad, shut-down old widower. There is another kind of overload in the occasional use of split screens. But it all unfolds very much as Jon Krakauer's book does, with interludes at the "magic bus" where Chris met his doom constantly intercut with episodes from his travels earlier during his two wander-years. And incredible episodes they are: roaming with a warm hippie couple; illegally and hair-raisingly running the Colorado rapids in a kayak; working in the big grain elevator and loving it; riding the rails and loving that too, till he's caught and beaten; escaping a flophouse in L.A.; staying with old Mr. Franz (Holbrook), learning from him how to engrave leather belts and persuading him to climb a mountain; and then off into the hostile snow country with a big back pack and sheer will. Many voiceovers from Chris's sister add more about the sibling relationship than was in the book; the family "fearlessly" cooperated in the film-making. McCandless's stern NASA honcho dad (William Hurt) and uptight mother (Marcia Gay Harden) are as unappealing as he saw them, but are not overdrawn—or underrepresented. Among other things Sean Penn's film is a remarkable balancing act.

It's obvious this story had to be made into a movie, and it's hard to imagine how anyone could have done it better than Penn and his fine cast. All Penn's directorial efforts have been heartfelt and earnest, but this of his films thus far is his greatest artistic success and has the widest appeal. Into the Wild is a good balance of the emotionally wrenching and the thought-provoking. It contains so many themes and poses so many questions—about youth, about time, about responsibility. Chris isn't to be confused with Herzog's 'Grizzly Man'. He's aware of the danger of nature. It's just that he has the hubris of daring to approach it with too little knowledge and experience, knowing the risk, and taking it. And indeed he might have made it and gotten back out, but for two or three terrible mistakes. Nature is unforgiving.

Chris McCandless was unforgiving too. But if he read the romantic Bible of his own life lived in those intense two years and lived to tell of them, the film suggests, he would have learned to love and forgive. He was bright, talented, passionate about life, a seeker or rare moral fervor who read and thought and recorded all that happened in those last days. His death was sadly premature. But there are signs—they're clear in Krakauer's book—that he made an impact on the world he inhabited and the people he met. Vince Vaughan's character shouts, "You're one hell of a young man. You're one hell of a young man!" He died terribly alone. But maybe the tree that falls in the forest is heard after all. "Quant'e' bella giovanezza," goes an Italian renaissance verse, "Che si fugge tuttavia." How beautiful is youth, which flees straightaway. McCandless' story embodies those lines.

'Into the Wild' seems more moving and thought-provoking than any other recent film, and may be destined to become some kind of classic—an 'Easy Rider', some have said, for our times. It's about society and nature, about family, about idealism and aloneness; most of all it's about the dangerous, heartbreakingly brief and beautiful romanticism of youth. In those two years, Chris McCandless lived a whole, remarkable, life. And Sean Penn has captured those two years for us.

overlong, and without epiphany

[L. Lion · 6/10 · 6 January 2008]

Sean Penn's sometimes engrossing and often beautiful film Into The Wild is, in the end analysis, about a character who was basically selfish and self-centered. Like Jim Morrison in Oliver Stone's The Doors, whom I found to be a self-centered ass, eventually I felt I was on a journey that had little or no revelation, with a person who was primarily selfish, and which leads to (spoiler follows) starvation in the Alaskan wilderness, an ending in which the only meaning I could find was that if you are going to camp next to a river and live off the land, bring a damn fishing pole.

This is not to say the film does not have its strengths. The cinematography makes the most of the beautiful landscapes through which Alexander Supertramp, in an earlier incarnation Chris McCandless (Emile Hirsch) passes. Also of note are some very strong performances by Catherine Keener, Vince Vaughn and Hal Holbrook as people that Alexander meets and bonds with during his journey. The same cannot be said of the lead, however.

Chris McCandless (Emile Hirsch) is a bright, upper middle class young man who has just graduated college. His parents are ready to gift him with a new car and hope he will apply to Harvard Law. He has other plans - to break the bonds of ordinary American existence and walk the Earth, rootless and without clear destination, in search of ... enlightenment? Escape? Even Chris doesn't seem to know.

The film is narrated by Chris' sister, Carine (played by Jena Malone), and we get some back-story. Chris was a born wanderer - at 4, he wandered away from home at 3 AM and was found 6 blocks away raiding a neighbor's cookie jar. His family life was unhappy - his parents had the kind of marriage that should have led to divorce, but didn't. And he feels a deep, internal rejection of modern life. He burns all his IDs, gives away his money, and drives off into the American southwest in his beat up Datsun. Sleeping in it one night he is caught in a flash flood, and abandons the car, setting off on foot, Burning Man style, with just the shoes on his feet and a backpack, on a voyage of discovery, and taking a new name - Alexander Supertramp.

These are all things that I could sympathize with. Many young people coming out of college seek something different from the lives their parents led. Alexander is simply taking the vision quest to a greater extreme. Without letting his family know where he is, he just disappears. In two years he will climb the highest peak of his journey, tramping off into the Alaskan wilderness alone, into the wild, to get away from civilization altogether.

The initial periods of his journey are the film's strength. Intermittently flashing forward and back from Alaska, the film follows Alex as he meets a couple of hippies with an RV, kayaks down the Colorado river into Mexico, then finds his way to South Dakota where he drives a combine, and so on. On his journey he bonds with a number of unusual individuals, and decides that the place he wants to be is Alaska, away from civilization completely.

However, the film begins to drag. It runs long (two and a half hours) and feels longer. There are really no revelations on his journey, just a series of beautiful landscapes and sometimes kooky characters that float in and out of his life. By the time he meets old coot Ron Franz (a superb Hal Holbrook) I was ready for this movie to hurry up and get to the resolution of his Alaskan adventure. When it is finally reached, I found it rather pointless - although he is equipped for the Wild, has a rifle for hunting, and has found a great camping site (an abandoned bus with a mattress as shelter), his supplies begin to run out and game becomes scarce. Forced to forage for edible plants and berries, he mistakes a poisonous plant for something edible. He is cut off from escape by a flooded river (and has, as I mentioned, NO FISHING POLE) and eventually weakens and succumbs to starvation. He could have at least tried spear-fishing - he had a knife and some waterproof boots.

The film also focuses, perhaps inadvertently, on something Alex did that I found to be unforgivable - the torture of his parents. They see him one last time after graduation at a McCormick & Schmick's in Atlanta before he disappears, and spend the ensuing two years in a state of agony over where their son is. Although I appreciated Alex' desire to find meaning in his life, not providing any word as to his well-being with his parents or his sister is just unforgivable. That may be a personal judgment about the character that not all people who watch this film will share, but that was my reaction.

Another flaw in this film is the casting of Emile Hirsch as the lead. He is appealingly good looking, but there is an inner fire missing there as an actor. Hirsch' Alexander is empty for me. I followed him across some amazing landscapes and through many interesting meetings without ever discovering why someone felt they needed to make a movie out of a young man who became a tramp after college and then starved to death in Alaska. Hal Holbrook is able to convey more depth and emotion in his brief time on screen than Hirsch does while on screen for almost three hours.

There are many sections of Into The Wild that I thoroughly enjoyed, and for a brief period during the first half of the film I was thoroughly engrossed. But that eventually passed, and I continued waiting for a revelation that never came. All in all, nice try, no cigar.

*The Hearts Search For True Heart*

[TheAnimalMother · 9/10 · 3 November 2009]

I agree with many others who have said that the main character makes some bad decisions (And you haven't?), and I agree that the film's story is far from the greatest story that has ever been made into a film. However, the story here is an important one that has a lot to say about being human. The story itself is certainly not at all an easy one to tell through the cinematic medium. Nonetheless, I really do think Sean Penn has captured this story nearly as well as it possibly could have been told on film, and that in itself is a stunning accomplishment. This story is so real, so human, that it reaches out and has obviously grabbed a ton of peoples hearts, including mine. The scenes themselves give off a very authentic feeling, even where some parts are somewhat rushed through for the betterment of the whole story, it ends up working well in full scope. Many of the scenes are extremely intimate, including the scene where Hirsch looks directly into the camera to increase this very aspect I feel. I know a lot of people have criticized this part, and I agree in most films it would have no place whatsoever, but here it is a very daring and effective decision by Penn in my opinion. Much of the film displays a vast amount of scenic beauty, and the scenes at slab city are nothing short of 'classic'.

To me, the important thing to take from the film is not why Chris decided to leave his parents and society. Nor do I think anyone can in their right mind criticize this decision he made. That is pointless. The fact is that it was his choice, whatever his accumulative reasons may have been is beside the point. The value here is in what he learns from the experience, and the incredible way in which he and Sean Penn have now shared that message with the rest of the world.

Eddie Vedders music was obviously the perfect choice for this film, as it sways with emotional depth and helps to carry the films authentic feel. There are many great acting performances here as well, none better than Catherine Keener's brilliant delivery of grace and genuine heart.

The story here ventures into the territory that drives all human experience. The search for authentic heart that all people, knowingly or not search for.

The heart searches for heart, only to find itself treading in a sea of broken hearts, all cut from the same Divine Cloth. The One, and the many...forever lost within ourselves.

"Happiness only real when shared" Chris McCandless

9.5/10

Good but not great

[grantss · 7/10 · 21 May 2021]

Good, but not as great as it is made out to be. Great scenery and cinematography, like a National Geographic documentary. Great soundtrack by Eddie Vedder. The central plot is very interesting and thought-provoking, but it gets done to death. From a point the movie just drifts. A shorter, more focussed film would have been much more watchable.

Emile Hirsch is great in the lead role and really unhabits the part (down to the emaciated look). The supporting cast are a Hollywood who's who - William Hurt, Hal Holbrook, Catherine Keener, Marcia Gay Harden, Vince Vaughn, Jena Malone, Kristen Stewart.

There is still beauty in this country :D

[rationalandpsyched2 · 9/10 · 6 September 2007]

I just saw this in Chicago at an advanced viewing, I did not read the book but I do remember seeing the event on the news.

The movie was epic- over 2.3 hours long, but there was never a dull moment. There were some risqué shots that I enjoyed, in particular one where Chris looks into the lens (which I think worked really well.) This film showed how beautiful this country is and how one person can be so in touch with that (makes you think about embracing life). Emile did a great job as Chris, dealing with a forked up home life is something almost everyone can relate to on one level or another. I think this movie will serve as an eye opener for a lot of people.

William Hurt was great, Catherine Keener was excellent, as was everyone else and the locals were very enjoyable to watch.

The music contributed by Vedder was awesome as well!

I definitely cried about... 4 times. The ending was so dramatic (because it was real and had to handle the final moments of a young man that we came to like). It seemed like the movie could have ended in several places, but overall I'm glad it decided to hit the 2.3 hour mark.

...

Afterward Emile did a Q+A where he pretty much talked about his experience being in Alaska, meeting Chris's family, acting with Sean Penn, made a joke about speed racer, etc. It sounded like a great time and it was clear that he was really enthusiastic about the project and proud of it.

In search of time not found.

[rmax304823 · 7/10 · 13 June 2009]

I've never seen a movie quite like this one, not an American movie at any rate. The one that comes closest, maybe, is "Easy Rider," but that one was full of plot points and ambition, raggedy though they turned out. "Into the Wild" is more like an assemblage of episodes from a self-made movie, put together with the help of some family friends who happen to be professional actors.

Emile Hirsch is the non-fictional Chris McCandless who gives away everything he owns, takes to the road, and winds up owning nothing in the Alaskan wilderness, not even the opportunity to savor the emotional fulfillment of being completely and utterly alone.

Hirsch isn't bad either. He is transformed from chubby and cheerful at the start to thin and desperate by the end. I would guess the film sticks pretty closely to its origins, which I think I remember reading in The New Yorker years ago.

The narration is based on Chris's sister's memories and on Chris's own journal but narrations can be misleading or sometimes plain wrong. It seems to be all the fault of McCandless's bickering parents. It was they who drove him to these peregrinations. Well -- that's kind of an easy way out. It provides a satisfying explanation for a story that is likely to be otherwise unexplainable, at least until we know more about neurology. It's always easy to find a trigger for behavior in our past experiences. Psychoanalysis rode that horse for generations. In reality I suspect that strangeness in people is partly a given at birth, and the explanations are post hoc and fitted to the cultural climate. It's tough enough being the parent of an odd child without being blamed for every odd thing he does.

Where was I? I think I started out for the Sea of Cortez and found myself, like Chris, in the North Woods.

The photography is sometimes stunning, often appealing, and sometimes as idiosyncratic as Ray Bolger's dance in "The Wizard of Oz." Step motion, slow motion, negative shots, all are employed but not, thank God, to the point of nausea. The whole film is leisurely, moving back and forth from Chris's encounters at home and on the road, to the Magic Bus he lives in at the top of the world.

Good actors. Nobody in the movie flubs it. Catherine Keener and William Hurt are exceptional performers but they have little to do on screen. Hurt does get a chance to register some convincing abject anguish at the end. Hal Holbrook, now an older man, has never been quite as good as he is here. A home run for Holbrook.

Does the movie have a point? Well, it certainly tries to impose one on the narrative, something along the lines of spiritual fulfillment is worth any price, even life itself. Hirsch dies with an open smile on his face, gazing at opalescent clouds. (If I remember correctly, the real Chris assumed his absence would be noticed and was waiting for an expected helicopter rescue.) The fuzzy points I would take away don't include our need for others in any but a mechanical sense. (We need others to make our shoes and guns.) There have been successful hermits before. I certainly wouldn't conclude from this story that nature is cruel because it isn't. It's just indifferent. What are we, after all, except a widespread large mammal that happens to call itself Homo sapiens?

Dumb college kid travels around but ultimately bites off more than he can chew.

[Ken_Souther · 1/10 · 19 November 2008]

This is the true story of Christopher McCandless, a college graduate who becomes a bum and eventually bites off more than he can chew by taking on the Alaskan frontier.

Early on in the movie, I sort of liked the main character, and the premise behind his motives, but as time goes by, I came to regard him as selfish, silly and maybe a bit insane.

He leaves his mother, father and sister distraught for over 2 years, not knowing where he is or if he is even alive. The portrayal of his 'traumatizing' upbringing was laughable (omg, his parents actually argued loudly and threatened to divorce each other a few times!). So what? As these facts came up, you come to dislike Chris (Alexander Supertramp), more and more. It becomes obvious he is just another spoiled suburban kid running from adult responsibilities, refusing to grow up, yet in the end meeting his match by taking on the Alaskan wilderness, which by the way, doesn't give two figs about how well meaning you are in your quest for 'answers'. Nature has no pity for the dumb.

Why did they make a movie about this idiot in the first place??

A masterpiece

[charlesjohnston2002 · 10 September 2007]

Sean Penn's artistic contribution to cinema in my lifetime has been staggering. The films he's directed have included some of my favourite performances from amazing actors pushed to their absolute limit.

I feel like everything he's ever done in his career so far, every tiny nuance, has been distilled into this incredible film. From start to finish it is beyond inspiring - by the end, it lifts right off the ground.

The first time the soundtrack really kicked in, I felt that Eddie Vedder's score seemed too loud. Then I realized that my only complaint was merely me resisting the full experience. The whole point of it all was to let go and not be afraid of going that one step too far.

Exceptional in every possible way

[MaxBorg89 · 10/10 · 20 May 2008]

Sean Penn's Into the Wild is beautiful, staggering, thoughtful, a labor of love made by a filmmaker with real passion for the story he set out to tell. Like a Terrence Malick picture, Into the Wild transcends any conception such as "if you only see one film this year" and goes beyond the very notion of "Oscar-worthy". If one really has to say something on the subject, then Into the Wild should have shared the Best Picture award with No Country for Old Men, but that kind of thinking is besides the point because Penn's masterpiece is more than a movie, or a work of art for that matter: it's a life experience.

A rebel at heart, Penn clearly identifies, at least on a few levels, with the film's unconventional protagonist, a bright young boy named Christopher McCandless (Emile Hirsch), whose astounding true story was first recounted in Jon Krakauer's book which gives the picture its title. Christopher had it all: loving parents (William Hurt and Marcia Gay Harden) and sister (Jena Malone), excellent grades and a most promising future. Then, one fine day the 20-year old college graduate decided that wasn't really what he wanted, took his law school fund and disappeared, setting out for a journey to the heart of America. "I'm going into the wild" the self-renamed Alex Supertramp wrote in his journal, and though he occasionally ran into people (Catherine Keener, Vince Vaughn and others) he would connect with in a deeper way, that's where he really belonged: away from civilization, just him, his elementary tools and the pure, untarnished nature surrounding him.

Christopher's journey, which is carried out with just the basic resources one needs to survive (no cell phone or other gadgets), is a modern odyssey of sorts, a quest for something that was lost forever and won't be found in the near future. In a world like ours, where technology rules all, a choice like Christopher's would be met with disbelief and probably derision. That only heightens the intensity of the character's message, which is also what the director aims to tell us: we need to rediscover ourselves before it's too late. It doesn't matter whether we are young or old, as the protagonist touchingly teaches an elderly man (Hal Holbrook, the only cast-member to be nominated for an Oscar), the important thing is we give it a serious try.

To simply call this a film isn't enough: in one of the most amazing combinations of efforts in the history of movie-making, the story, Penn's soulful direction, Hirsch's painfully real performance (will he ever be this good again?) and Eddie Vedder's elegiac songs (an essential soundtrack for any true film-lover) merge into something that's almost too powerful to describe in words: you have to see it to believe it.

Into the Wild isn't an "easy" film: it will leave you very affected, possibly devastated, but also as enriched as one can ever be after seeing a genuine masterwork. It will ignite real thoughts about life instead of the phony reflections so many "issue movies" try to induce. It will hit the gut, the heart and the mind in equal measure, and once the initial wave of emotional overflow has passed you will feel immensely rewarded. Into the Wild does this because it isn't merely a motion picture: it is art, life, freedom and nature, all together in a mesmerizing piece of visual poetry.