Call everything by its proper name

Rating: 10/10 (5 April 2008)

But don't make a mistake.
The theme of this emotionally wrenching drama (script and direction from Sean Penn, from a best-selling nonfiction book by Jon Krakauer) is not man versus wild, as it was in the works of one of the protagonist's heroes, Jack London. Instead the conflict is between man and society. Chris McCandless has just graduated from college. His parents are proud. His grades are good enough for a top grad school. He's bright, personable. It seems he has everything going for him.
But he's bitter and disappointed. He disrespects his parents and believes that the last thing he wants to do is act out their idea of success. So he gives the $24,000 he has in the bank for grad school to charity and just ups and leaves home. He has some Kerouac-like adventures on the road where as a "leather tramp" he meets some ordinary people, some good people, some retro hippies, some Middle American farm workers, some derelicts and a social worker in L.A., a pretty girl, an old man, etc., and then, believing "you don't need human relationships to be happy," it's north to Alaska to live out a dream that might have been dreamt by Thoreau or Jack London.
But we know from the very beginning of the film that Chris McCandless AKA "Alexander Supertramp" will die in the Alaskan wilderness at a tender age in 1992. Was his death the result of stupidity regarding the dangers of going "into the wild" or was it a result of bad luck or accident? Or was it the indirect result of the hypocritical and mercantile values of his parents and his society to which he overreacted? Or even, was it the indirect result of a kind of youthful bravado that could overtake many a young man? What Chris does is what a renunciant in an Eastern religion might do: he leaves society to live alone in the woods. He renounces society's shallow values and lives as simply as possible. But Chris is not practicing an Eastern religion. He is not an old man near the end of his life looking for moksha. He is under the influence of Thoreau and Jack London, whose books he has read and loved. He wants to test himself against the wild without help from anyone. He wants to prove his manhood to himself without the help of society or society's culture But he is a greenhorn in the Alaskan wilderness whose fate is sealed.
The way that Jon Krakauer and Sean Penn have reconstructed this story (partly from notes and even from some carvings that Chris made, and partly from interviews with people who knew Chris) we see that at one point after some weeks in the wilderness Chris suddenly realizes something profound and moving. He says, referring to the great beauty of life and the world that he is able to see: "Happiness is only real when it's shared.." At that point he has learned what he needed to learn from the wilderness and from the people he met in his trek across the country.
The great tragedy of this movie is what then befalls Chris.
The ending is emotionally gut-retching and yet somehow cathartic. To watch such a likable, honest and spiritually advanced young man with such potential seem to throw it all away, carelessly, foolishly, or accidentally, is a human tragedy brilliantly brought to the printed page and to the screen for all of us to share. And in this sharing Chris's life gains new meaning and he becomes a guide and a teacher for all of us.
I know it must have been very difficult for his parents to cooperate in the telling of Chris's story since the story does not show them in a favorable light. Yet the very fact that they helped bring Chris's story to us shows perhaps where Chris got his moral courage. I have no doubt that it was their deep love for their son that moved them to find that emotional courage. This movie gives meaning to Chris's life and shows their love for him, and allows a wide audience to see that he did not die in vain.
I want to congratulate not only Krakauer and Penn but also Emile Hirsch who played the part of Chris McCandless. The role was enormously demanding, the sort of role that an actor may only get once in a lifetime, if he's lucky. And Hirsch played it well. He was charming and witty and very strong of character. What a splendid tribute to the real Chris. And kudos to Hal Holbrook who played Ron Krantz to an emotional tee, deeply sympathetic to both his character and to Chris's, and to the significance of the film itself.
And the rest of the cast was also very good, although Kristen Stewart was a little too pretty for the part of the 16-year-old trailer troubadour, and of course William Hurt could have used a larger role.
The lesson of this story, it seems to me is this: Young people of courage and honor, even though they may make mistakes, even though they may be mistaken at a fundamental level, can, through their valor, teach us all something important. As Chris told Ron Krantz, "Get off your butt, old man. The core of a man's spirit comes from new experiences." What he is also saying is: live every moment in a genuine way. And we can see that is what Chris did. A life so lived, although short, may well be the equal of a much longer life lived not so authentically.
(Note: Over 500 of my movie reviews are now available in my book "Cut to the Chaise Lounge or I Can't Believe I Swallowed the Remote!" Get it at Amazon!)