My Opinion on Into The Wild

Rating: 9/10 (3 August 2008)

Into the Wild is a film about the last few years of Christopher McCandless's life; which was spent wandering aimlessly around the North American wilderness meeting all kinds of free thinking and free loving, tax dodging vagrants. Christopher, or Alex, as he is better known in the film, was from a privileged background. He ignobly decided to reject materialism and fall off the grid. Alex is an unsympathetic character, and throughout the film I struggled to muster not only sympathy, but also a semblance of comprehension as to why Alex took the path that he did, in such a brutally selfish manner. In a lesser film, this fact alone could ruin what follows entirely, but Emile Hirsch gives and incredibly tuned in and dedicated performance as Chris/Alex. The high level of this central performance helps to turn a dislikeable real life person into a complicated and interesting character whose stunning journey exceeds the limitations of his rather naïve, dubious, hurtful and silly motivations.
Emile Hirsch is the heart of this film and it excels because of his performance. There are, of course, other elements in the film which are exemplary, the supporting characters (for the most part) have limited screen time, but are all well written and form an important piece of Alex's puzzle. Particularly memorable are the quirky Danish couple that Alex encounters while canoeing his way to old Mexico. The soundtrack is brilliant and evocative and the cinematography is equally triumphant, dude. An early third act wobble with a tacked on romance and a regurgitation of already expended hippie characters is quickly remedied by a tremendously uplifting and moving encounter with an elderly loner (Hal Halbrook). His wisdom is inspirational to Alex; whose eagerness and vitality, in turn, rejuvenates the ageing recluse. It's a beautiful segment that provides the luxurious and creamy topping on an already tasty chocolate cake.
Into the Wild is a slow paced and well assembled film. Just as the film lingers, so do the questions that it raises. There is inspiration to be found here, a moving and unusual fiction that is more effecting and noble than the reality on which it is based. I personally rate Into the Wild as the second best film of 2007, sandwiched neatly in between Jesse James and Ian Curtis.