Reality-altering

Rating: 9/10 (17 October 2007)

"Into the Wild" is one of the few films that can alter one's perception of reality long after one has exited the theatre. The tale is not so much depressing as it is encouraging; not so much the tale of a thickheaded pariah but one of a modern day Jesus (McCandless was even asked if he was Jesus on his journey).
While some who read Jon Krakauer's bestseller deemed the youth a foolish outcast who needlessly lost his life because of a reckless overdose in idealism, the film paints his journey in a different, more thought-provoking light  seemingly the core of writer/director/producer Sean Penn's focus in making the film.
Penn seemed to adapt the movie not simply verbatim from the novel, but by cherry picking some of the most appropriate passages of the book to highlight larger considerations of humanity's true place in modern society. It is much less a chronological tale of a young man's journey to Alaska as it is a film that appeals to some of our deepest fears and questions.
This redefining foray into life's big questions is why Into the Wild is a must-see, a film that not only tells a lot about the human psyche and our suppressed instincts, but puts it all in a context of a complete rejection of the overwhelming nature of modern society.