Excellent Though Flawed

Rating: 8/10 (21 March 2008)

I don't blame Sean Penn for not attempting to "do" Krakauer's book. What made the book so interesting was the author's investigation and guesswork about where McCandless was at given points of time and what he must have been thinking of therein (Chris' notes were nowhere near a diary let alone a narrative of his story). Such might make a good documentary but might not be much in the way of drama. Still, this film inherits Jon K's best intentions toward our young hero. In this sense, both the book and the movie share the celebration of reckless, idealistic but well intentioned youth - along with all its folly, stubbornness, narcissism, etc. Kudos for not going overboard on anti-cultural, ecological themes. Might have been a four star affair if it had left out the "bad-parents-made-me-do-it" motif.