Into The Wild review

For most people, at one time or another, the idea of simply abandoning their stress-filled, urban lives and heading back to nature is an appealing one. A beautiful landscape filled with nothing but sky, animals and flowers represents a romantic Eden. For one young man, this dream became a reality but, as can happen with dreams, it became a nightmare. Director and co-writer Sean Penn's moving but disjointed Into The Wild, based on Jon Krakauer's best-selling book, chronicles the true-life story of Christopher McCandless (Emile Hirsch), a 20 year-old who walked away from his privileged life and law school to hitchhike to Alaska.

Penn, as always, has produced an accomplished and absorbing film, filled with terrific performances. He is an actor's director, demanding and getting truth and vitality from his great cast. He is, however, less effective with structure. Into The Wild jumps all over the place, fracturing time throughout its overly-long duration. It's often hard to know where we are on McCandless' odyssey. This not only disrupts the experience but also undermines the impact of its harrowing end.

Along the way, the engaging and well-read McCandless encounters a variety of fascinating characters, from the itinerant hippies Rainey (Brian Dieker) and Jan (Catherine Keener), to an irrepressible farmer (Vince Vaughn), to an elderly belt-maker (Hal Holbrook). All of who teach McCandless something about himself and life, as he teaches them about what it is to fulfill yourself. Looming large over the film, adding poignancy to every exchange, is the knowledge that McCandless dies in the pursuit of his dream, starving to death in an abandoned bus in the Alaskan wilderness.

That's not to say Into The Wild doesn't have its lighter moments. McCandless' passion is infectious and Vince Vaughn is hilarious as the colorful Wayne. Into The Wild also possesses great moments of tenderness, most notably when the young McCandless is befriended by the desert-dwelling loner Ron Franz. It's a heart-rending turn from Hal Holbrook in one of the best performances of his long and distinguished career.

Emile Hirsch fully embodies McCandless, dropping alarmingly in weight as he transforms from the robust young man to the emaciated figure at the end. While adding magnificently to the reflective mood of the film is Eddie Vedder's stirring soundtrack. Given its tragic ending, Into The Wood might be construed by some as a cautionary tale, but for others Penn has produced an inspirational, if incohesive and long-winded, celebration of the human spirit.

Kevin Murphy