Penn and Pearl Jam on Tour

Rating: 4/10 (19 July 2008)

Sold to many on the score alone, a film musically endorsed by the Pearl Jam legend that is Eddie Vedder, fails to live up to expectations. The profound protagonist, Christopher McCandless, embarks on a 'meaning of life' expedition literally in to wild to do battle with the demons within born from a material world and a loveless upbringing. At two hours and twenty eight minuets there are endless life affirming statements that ultimately add up to a rather pretentious take on a self-discovery voyage. I simply wanted to shake the chap by the arms and tell him to stop being so down right silly. The film spends too much time covering the same ground to be truly compelling. However, when it does finally arrive at its climatic end it is undeniably emotional and a pouring of sympathy is well deserving. I personally only realised that this was a true story at the very end of the film. This of course makes the circumstances that McCandeless finds himself in all the more difficult to bear. A good performance from Emile Hirsch and top draw direction for Sean Penn certainly makes it worth a look in, but it for one hour and nineteen minuets it does not match up to its own hype.