An Almost Perfect Film!

Rating: 9/10 (29 March 2012)

The great American actor, Hal Holbrook, was rightfully nominated for an actor in a supporting role in the film for his performance. The rest of the cast is first rate and Oscar winners include William Hurt and Marcia Gay Harden. If you like Kristin Stewart, she does a very good job here as well. The cast is first rate and the writing is as well. The film's structure has a lot of flashbacks to the past of Christopher Candleless's life at home in West Virginia; his journey in America; and his time in Alaska. The actor, Emilie Hirsch, did an excellent job in playing the main character who seeks meaning in life without connection to society. In the film, we see what caused him to become the man he was and why he yearned a sense of freedom from money, family, and people in general. I haven't read the book but it's based on a true story about this remarkable young man who donated his life savings to charity and took off to see the country. The ending could have been better though with a follow-up on the other characters. Still, Jena Malone's narration and informative background history help us understand Chris's plight with life and his search for meaning like a modern day Thoreau or Ralph Waldo Emerson.