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Into the Wild

Posted by jamesgarvin (A) on July 26, 2009 at 19:59:34

With the kids getting a little older, I find myself listening to more music than watching films. So, on Friday night, I am flipping the menu of the cable, and see this film will be on, made in 2007, and unfamiliar to me. The opening credits tell me that this was written and directed by Sean Penn, and I realize I must have been more out of touch than I thought. How could I not have heard of a Sean Penn directed film, as much as I loved The Crossing Guard, and liked The Pledge? Plus, I've not seen it discussed here.

The film tells the story of Christopher McCandless, played by Emile Hirsch, a kid from an affluent family, fresh from a degree from Emory University, and money in the bank for law school. He donates the money to charity, buys a cheap Datsun, and heads West until the car breaks down, and then he sets out on foot to explore.

The films seemlessly weaves his bereaved parents at home who know not where their child is, with the variety of people he meets, and the adventures he experiences, with his ultimate arrival at the Alaskan wilderness armed only with rice, books, a gun and some ammo. His sister, played by Jena Malone, periodically narrates the story.

We see him meet a hippie couple, the wife played by Catherine Keener, who are having marital difficulties, but who resolve those difficulties with his assistance. We see him canoe ride down the Colorado River, sneaking in a spillway to Mexico, him ditching his canoe, him hitching his way back north through San Diego, his landing in Montana and employment at a farm, hired by Vince Vaughn, to his meeting an old man whose family was killed many years ago and who has watched life pass him by played by Hal Hoolbrooke, and finally to his hitching up to Alaska.

I'll not bore anyone with the details of his life in Alaska. I did not realize the film was based upon a true story until the end credit when we see a photograph real character he took of himself outside a bus in which he set up camp. He kept detailed journals of his travel, and so the film is very close to the original events.

I think Penn is drawn to characters who are possessed by something, to the point of either consuming their lives (The Pledge), redeaming their lives (The Crossing Guard), or ending their lives. This one is the latter. McCandless is apparently consumed with not necessarily the sense of adventure, though he has that, but apparently with completely separating himself from a society he feels has lost itself.

The film is so well written that not a word in the 2.5 hours feels wasted. Penn also avoids the melodrama that can come with a film of this type. I think it too easy to show this kid as a hero, as a rebel against society, who died for our sins. Rather, Penn plays it straight, and we understand that while his heart was in the right place, he has not the experience for this adventure, and his death is not glorious.

Emile Hirsch bears a strong resemblance to the real thing, but in his final scenes in which he is nothing but skin and bones, we see some real acting chops.

See the film, and then read a little about Christopher McCandless. I wish he would have made it out of Alaska. I admire him for walking the walk, when so many just talk. I just wished he would have gone about it a little differently.

Edits: 07/26/09

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