Into the Wild

What’s the Story?

Based on Jon Krakauer's nonfiction best-seller Into the Wild, Sean Penn's adaptation martyrs Christopher McCandless (Emile Hirsch) as an intelligent, idealistic, 24-year-old college graduate who gives his trust fund to Oxfam, burns the remainder of his cash, and takes off on an extended journey into the wilderness. Chris makes a life-changing impression on everyone he meets, including two hippies (Catherine Keener, Brian Dierker); a grain elevator foreman (Vince Vaughn); a 16-year-old folk singer (Kristen Stewart); and, most touchingly, a lonely elderly man (Hal Holbrook). Despite the seemingly deep human connections he fosters throughout his tramping days, Chris is single-mindedly focused on one goal: getting to Alaska and living off the land for a few months all by himself. In fact, he arrives there early in the film, camping out in a "magic" bus that had been parked long ago as a crude base camp; flashbacks fill in the two years leading up to that point. The back-and-forth between Chris' days in Alaska and his time as Alexander the hitchhiker is effective, poignantly reminding the viewer of the kind of big-hearted man he could have resumed being had he been able to walk back out of the wilderness.

Is It Any Good?

In real life, the cult of Christopher McCandless has little meaning to critics (mostly Alaskan) who believe that the idealistic 24-year-old wanderer basically committed suicide. Those who don't consider McCandless praiseworthy probably won't enjoy this film adaptation.

Whether or not you agree with the accuracy of the portrayal, it's fascinating -- beautiful, even -- to see a young man embark on his own hero's journey. Every performance in Penn's film is noteworthy. Hirsch, who's in practically every scene of the two-and-a-half-hour film, gives a startling, career-high performance--he fully embodies Chris. The excellent soundtrack features several songs by Eddie Vedder. But one of the most impressive triumphs of the movie is its gorgeous cinematography. The "simple beauty" Chris so cherishes in nature is perfectly captured. Even in his final moments (at least in the film), Chris -- now starved and emaciated -- has nature's beauty to comfort him. If only he could have told his story himself.