A Nice Hike

Rating: 8/10 (31 March 2012)

The best directed movie from actor/auteur Sean Penn since 1991's underrated THE Indian RUNNER, this is a visually gorgeous travelogue showing the sites of America though the yearning eyes of Christopher McCandless, a suburban college graduate turned intrepid idealist who ditches everything – giving his law school funds to charity – for a trip to Alaska for what he considers the ultimate freedom.
Eventually, without a car or money, McCandless meets a hippie couple; a charming tractor driver; and a dear old man with a tragic past. Each character serves as a peripheral warning for McCandless that his ill-prepared trek might not be very safe, and even those not familiar with the true story can assume it's a one way ticket.
From riding a kayak through the Colorado River to climbing gorgeous mountaintops, director Penn shows more style than struggle for the main character, whose journey is mostly aesthetic and, backed by original music by Eddie Vedder, dwells in a glossy documentary style giving the isolated journey a much too rosy outlook. Except scenes in the "present" as McCandless resides in a junked "Magic Bus" in the middle of nowhere, Alaska, and eventually runs out of food and sanity.
With a determined scruffy puppy countenance, Emile Hirsch balances dedicated traveler and naive optimist decently enough. With mistakes equaling accomplishments, he's never shown too perfectly despite the heavy-handed narration by his sister, who subliminally compares him to the ever-quotable philosophers instead of a normal guy on an abnormal quest. His obstacles include skinning a moose before flies take over; getting stuck in Mexico; and the temptation to sleep with a sixteen year old Kristen Stewart.
Running at a breezy two and a half hours, this is a trip worth taking – and although there's a clear anti Capitalist message throughout, the film, made by a politically polarizing celebrity, is never one-dimensional or one-sided. Anyone yearning to escape from the drudgery of city life into the "wonders of nature" will enjoy this quest. There's a lot to experience with enough time for everything to matter.
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