A beautiful, if a bit long, film

Rating: 9/10 (29 December 2017)

It is hard to watch the movie and not experience feelings of longing for the beauty of life as shown in it. You have this young man who is determined to wander the world, reach Alaska and live off the land. He renounces a good life, a wealthy suburban family and the trappings of modern human society and embarks onto this epic quest to find the truth of life and of being. The movie is nothing if not beautiful, in the shots, the music by Eddie Vedder (Pearl Jam) and the great cast. Emile Hirsch is amazing in the lead role and people like Vince Vaughn, William Hurt, Marcia Gay Harden and a lovely 17 years old Kristen Stewart support him well.
But not all is rosy. At two hours and a half long and slow in pace, this is an atmospheric film. You need to be in the mood to see it, to be under no time or people pressure, just in order to experience the truth of absolute freedom that writer and director Sean Penn wants to express. Also, the story is heavily dramatized, since there are a lot of inconsistencies between the facts and what you see in the film. I strongly recommend watching the movie before you research the real story. The combination of great outdoors, interesting book quotes and personal anecdotes of the people he meets makes for a nice story, but in the end the telling of it is more important than the subject at hand.
Bottom line: the movie reminded me a little of On the Road (also having Kristen Stewart in a supporting role) with the same idea of the great American road quest, personal freedom and exploration of the soul. If you liked that movie, you will like this one, too. You have to reserve the time and disposition to watch it and experience it. On the Road was better, though.