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Into the Wild (2007)

Director: Sean Penn

Time Out rating

Average user rating

27 reviews

Movie review

From Time Out London

Talk about heart-on-your-sleeve cinema. Sean Penn uses cinema as an alternative to the analyst’s couch in this adaptation of Jon Krakauer’s book, which details the fatal journey of Christopher McCandless, a 22-year-old graduate from a comfortable Virginian background who, in 1990, gave his $24,000 savings to Oxfam, hit the road and wandered through California, Arizona and South Dakota before hitchhiking to Alaska, where he ate the wrong berries and died in a rusty old schoolbus in which he’d been camping between hunting moose, dodging bears and reading too much Jack London.

Penn shows an abnormal amount of sympathy for McCandless (Emile Hirsch) – think, in British terms, a literate public-schoolboy with a sneering towards the conventional; he even says, ‘I think careers are a twentieth-century invention’ – and his McCandless is a Messianic figure who pounds the open road, leaving behind nothing but goodwill whether he encounters troubled hippies (Catherine Keener and Brian Dierker), hormonal teenagers (Kristen Stewart) or ‘lonely’ – McCandless’ own poisonous word, not mine – old men such as the one played very sweetly by Hal Holbrook. The story of McCandless is obviously fascinating, but Penn is so uncritical that he leaves us little room to judge for ourselves whether his subject – or, more fittingly, his muse? – is enlightened, arrogant or both.

Everything else is deftly handled: Eric Gautier’s photography is beautiful, the pace is swift, Hirsch gives a terrific performance and Penn’s script moves back and forth neatly between the past and the present, cleverly using the bridge of a voiceover from McCandless’ sister (Jena Malone) to sketch a troubled family background. More than anything, the film reminds me of a time when, aged 17, I set off for the Forest of Dean to camp out in the wild, inspired somehow by the recent death of Dennis Potter. We arrived at night, pitched camp and woke in the morning to find we were sleeping next to a busy dog-walking path. One man’s wilderness is another man’s backyard. If only Penn had kept that more in mind.

Author: Dave Calhoun 2007-11-12 15:48:58

Time Out London Issue 1942: November 7-13 2007

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User reviews of this film

Ul said...

Posted on Nov 30 2007 13:30 The movie is absolutely rubbish, straight to the bin. What’s the stupid idea to show a young boy, graduated from good colleague and instead of starting up his career he goes into wild? He is arrogant to society he was brought up and through out the movie he shows no logic thinking, no intelligence, nothing to take up, he is completed idiot –no wonder he is running away from society – because, as already mentioned by tractor driver in the movie – inside his head is wrong! He could not bring anything into society that’s why he was frustrated and his decision to go into wild was the best he could do for society – some people stay and harm or kill the others, just think about motives behind the crime…His parents have failed their duties –shame but at least they gave him proper education, so what? …it was wasting of money and hope. Why we should be watching this rubbish? Where is the moral?? I need my money back.

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olek said...

Posted on Nov 29 2007 09:20 2.5 hours of total rubbish, incoherent mumble about young guy rambling all over US escaping from Evil Materialistic Society. Finally he reaches Alaska where in solitude he enjoys nice landscapes as long as - YES! - he has enough of food, bullets and other supplies from the society and civilization which he fled. When he runs out of the above, he starves to death. What an idiotism.

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Pen said...

Posted on Nov 18 2007 21:47 A stunning film that every parent should see! Life changing - don't read the reviews just go and see it and make your own mind up.

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ken said...

Posted on Nov 15 2007 23:40 Well for all of the cynical and numbed who have no life left for adventure read the reviews don't go, but if you love nature and see the working on the inner person going through great changes see this movie. When reading reveiws I wonder have we become so distance from nature that we look on a film like this with suspicion. The acting was great, don't get lost on a few trivial things lacking, Enjoy enjoy.

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Jonathan Kaufman said...

Posted on Nov 15 2007 23:00 I have read various reviews and comments about this film and find myself coming down on the side of its supporters. Despite my personal antipathy towards the 'character' of Chris McCandless (after all he was a real person) I found it a thoughtful, thought-provoking film. Here is a subject that is rarely dealt with in the cinema (especially American cinema) - exploring whether rebellion against the system is ultimately a self-indulgent act. Many of us have been through a teenage rebellious period, but how many of us have acted so thoroughly on our impulses? Full credit to Penn and Hirsch who have created a modern masterpiece. I would class this alongside some of the European greats. The final haunting image of the real McCandless smiling (naively?) into the camera is worth the ticket price alone.

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critique said...

Posted on Nov 15 2007 16:19 Meditative, often pretentious, visually splendid. Disagree with kk that "parents...were portrayed as grotesque monsters". William Hurt, in particular, as the boy`s father, did wonders with limited screen time. The scene where Hurt breaks down in the middle of the road I found very moving and demonstrated what a profound effect his son`s selfishness had on his family.

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Yumshi said...

Posted on Nov 13 2007 13:24 This is a must-see film! Cant reccommend it highly enough.Everybody can identify with the character's
journey in some way.

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Yumshi said...

Posted on Nov 13 2007 13:22 This is a must-see film! Cant reccommend it highly enough.Everybody can identify with the character's journey.

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Annie said...

Posted on Nov 10 2007 21:50 The only reason I stuck with this self-indulgent tripe for 2.5 hours was because it was funny. Sadly, the laughs were accidental as it was as humourless as it was self-indulgent. In short, a middle class brat decides neither 'things' nor 'relationships' will make you happy and goes in search of The Truth in Alaska, dispensing cod morality along the way, miraculously healing the lives/marriages/broken hearts of simplistic stereotypes at every turn. Each 'message' in the film was hammered home, through repetition, slow motion, musical cliches, and constant but banal insights from the boy 'old beyond his years'. Chris Mccandless' naivete is understandable; the film makers' is not.

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kk said...

Posted on Nov 10 2007 21:42 This film sure is heart-felt but unfortunately, it's also brain-dead. It's essentially the story of a spoilt rich American
college graduate who decides to ditch the materialistic life of his dysfunctional parents and go on a quest of self-discovery across the American wilderness. Sadly, he discovers nothing but confirms his banal half-baked prejudices against 'society', the evils of Capitalism, and the beauty of nature (often in meaningful slow motion). What we discover, about half an hour into the film, is that we are stuck in the company of a dull, earnest young man in love with his own adolescent resentments. There is no character development until the last five minutes, when it finally dawns on him that
other human beings matter too. The dialogue is trite beyond endurance ('If you really want something, just go and get it'), the mushy-brained preachiness of the character deeply patronising to the viewer, and I felt really sorry for his parents who were portrayed as grotesque monsters, The sister's supposedly profound voiceover musings on Chris' journey were even more annoying than Chris' own wisdoms, which he generously dished out to everyone he met.
I could feel my brain cells dying by the millions.

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bjorn said...

Posted on Nov 10 2007 12:57 I really enjoyed this movie. It is 2.5 hours long but you never have to look at your watch. It is a great true story which a lot of people will identify with but never had the guts to do anything about. Go see it and be inspired and yes shoot the reviewers!

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kees said...

Posted on Nov 10 2007 12:33 absolutely brilliant. It makes you reflect on your own life and maybe make some changes. Can somebody please shoot the time out reviewers?

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