A meditative masterpiece

Rating: 10/10 (9 October 2007)

Any basic literature course will teach you that all great literature focus on a central conflict, either: 1) Man against Man 2) Man against himself 3) Man against Nature It is the rare bird which comes along once in a while which encompasses all three and "Into the Wild" does just that.
Some reviewers have asserted that Christopher McCandeless was a naive, idealistic loony who lost it in the wilds of Alasaka. In actuality, he was someone running away from the demons of his family life and trying to find himself in the process. In order to do that, he rejected the affluent life of comfort which was there for the taking (stellar athlete and student, new car, Harvard Law etc.) and instead hobo'ed his way across America, picking up menial jobs here and there and befriending other marginal types on his road to self-discovery which eventually leads him to an abandoned bus in the Alaskan wilderness.
I won't say anymore about the plot, but this film is so much more than a film, it's a meditation on existence and on what we label "normal", there is wisdom especially in the the words of Mr. Franz. The is love, there is pain, there is family, there is The Journey. There is also an honest and brutal questioning. In short, the film touches on all the most important aspects of life. Please do yourself a favor and see this film on the large screen, the cinematography is flawless and the real America (or what's left of it) shows off her truest most beautiful self here. I hope the Academy honor's Sean Penn and Emile Hirsch for their outstanding work.