A leap out of the rat race

Rating: 7/10 (15 October 2014)

When a film poster states written and directed by Sean Penn, you can be forgiven for breaking out in a cold sweat. After all I saw his directorial debut that was The Indian Runner. Penn until this film has failed to prove to me that he was a worthy auteur.
Into the Wild is about Chris McCandless (Emile Hirsch) a notable student and athlete who after graduation wants to leave his family and society at large and live in the wilderness of Alaska.
The film is episodic as we see him finding a magic bus in Alaska living in the wild as the movie flashes back and forth between his adventures in Alaska, his long journey to get there as well as the effect of his planned disappearance has on his family.
On his road and rail trip he met a hippie couple, some Scandinavians, worked in farm where he learned survival tips, worked in a fast food outlet and met a lonely, old man who lost his family some decades earlier and wants to adopt him.
The film has narration from Chris and his sister some of which are based on his journal entries. There is an important story strand as Chris discovered that his father had been married before and had a child from that relationship and his father had abandoned that family. He felt that his family life was based on lies as well as his parents having an unhappy marriage.
This might had been an impetus as to why he abandoned his present lifestyle and went on a journey of self discovery. It is based on a true story although one that has a sad ending.
Emile Hirsch does well in channelling the spirit of Chris, his journey, the sense of adventure and yearning for loneliness and yet his character is so likable, mixes well with others, literate, intelligent, thoughtful and compassionate.
The film is a tad over-long and tries to be fair on his parents and his sister who felt abandoned. Maybe we needed to learn more about the side characters as they all were helping him, caring and looking out for him. There is only the one sore incident when he is caught jumping on freight trains.