Wow Wow Wow

Rating: Null/10 (8 March 2008)

What a lush, beautiful, evocative film. The story and the performances -- from Emile Hirsch to Catherine Keener, Hal Holbrook, Marsha Gay Harden, William Hurt and Jena Malone to small players like Brian Dierker (as Rainey) -- came alive under the deft and unforced hand of screenwriter/director Sean Penn.
Into the Wild is one of my favorite nonfiction books of all time, and the story haunted me for months after I read the book. When I heard it was to be a film, I was both fascinated and worried about how it would translate to the screen -- particularly the inner struggles and thoughts of Chris McCandless that took him on his tragic quest, and the complex relationships in his life.
Penn really captured the rich tapestry of this story. Pure genius.