A lot more than he needed

Rating: 8/10 (30 October 2007)

By graduating from college, Christopher McCandless (Emile Hirsch) pays his dues to society and, more specifically, to his by-the-book family. But since all social promises are false and all families are psychotic, he sees no other choice but to leave his old life behind, Bobby McGee style. Interludes at the hippie front and a stint at small-town happiness as a junior craftsman remain nothing but stopovers on a journey all his own. Not a lot of scripts could get away with lines like "When you forgive, you love, and when you love, God's light shines on you" or "Happiness only real when shared". Sean Penn's screenplay does. Think "The Go-Getter" meets "Grizzly Man", with overtones of Philippe Lioret's "I'm fine". Fine performances all around. Seeing a slick beauty like Catherine Keener in the part of a grief-ridden hippie is particularly refreshing.