INTO THE WILD

Y’know, a week ago I wasn’t even going to see this damn thing. For one thing, I don’t really care for Sean Penn all that much. Guy’s a fine actor and all, but he’s a big mess of ego and a little crazy, and while that either works wonders for, or doesn’t at all affect, his performances, it matters a LOT when he’s the guy in charge of the whole damn production (in addition to the directorial credit, he wrote the adaptation of Jon Krakauer’s book and produced the thing). But this film reads instead like the one he wanted to make his whole life.

The story revolves around Christopher McCandless, who just graduated college and is just about a shoo-in for Harvard Law School. Instead, he burns his money (literally), destroys all his identification, calls himself Alexander Supertramp and sets off…into the wild. His ultimate goal is his great Alaskan adventure, to basically live off the land somewhere in Alaska. It’s a vague goal, but he plans meticulously for it.

These kinds of stories have only a passing interest for me. People just packing up (or unpacking) their lives and heading on the road just “to be out there” are so often described idealistically by people who have no idea how tough it actually is out there. But while McClandless might not have known all he was in for, he definitely had an idea.

If there’s any fault in the movie (and there are a couple), it’s that Penn is in love with his subject. He tries to approach him with a critical eye by putting most of the narration on Christopher’s younger sister, but a) it’s pretty poorly written; it might be from the book, but it doesn’t sound as good as it may read, and b) in the end, we’ll end up with a beautiful (God, is this film beautiful) shot of Christopher against a sunset, away from the things of man. Another film that comes to mind constantly while watching this is Werner Herzog’s masterful documentary GRIZZLY MAN, which analyzes Timothy Treadwell, who spent a good chunk of each year in Alaska to live amongst the grizzly bears. That movie’s brilliance comes from its fascination with Treadwell’s life without celebrating it.

But in the end, it’s a minor quibble, because while Penn misses the opportunity for masterpiece, he ends up creating something that resonates emotionally deeper. It puts us right there with him, so when he fires a gun into the air over frustration of the lack of animals in Alaska, we feel that loss. When the people he encounters (people who almost seem invented, they’re so rich) question his goals, we also wonder how they don’t see the opportunity. It’s a young man’s ambition, but at least there was one young man who was willing to go for it.

I was just mentioning the people he comes into contact with along the way, and while they're great on page, they're even better onscreen. Penn casted the hell out of this one, even using Vince Vaughn as a wheat farmer (to perfection). Even better, though, are Catherine Keener and Brian Dierker (who isn't even an actor, but you wouldn't know it watching him) as on-the-road hippies. But the one that brings the house down is Hal Holbrook as Ron Franz, an elderly man who helps Christopher on the last leg of his trip before heading into Alaska. I don't want to discuss him too much, but his performance is more beautiful than any of the shots in the film.

I’d be remiss to not talk about Emile Hirsch, who plays Christopher. Hirsch first came on my radar with 2005’s LORDS OF DOGTOWN, a performance that (I’m told) didn’t work for everyone, but I thought was a downright revelation. I knew that if he was lucky enough, he’d be destined for big stuff, and this film solidifies it even more (and gives me hope for his starring role in next year’s SPEED RACER from the Wachowskis…no, really). It’s a spare performance, verbally, and so much is communicated with body language and his eyes, and at only twenty-two, Hirsch handles his character’s downfall better than other actors who have been doing this for much, much longer. He also looks freakishly like McCandless.

Anyway. The film’s long at 2 hours, 20 minutes, but there are parts that feel a bit spare. It often rushes from location to location and character to character, and in the editing stage, I can see why Penn made the choices he did. But somewhere out there (maybe among the films that’ll never be, hopefully in an eventual DVD release) is the real deal. One that doesn’t skirt the hardship Christopher placed on his family, and better tackles (what’s known of) the nuts-and-bolts of how he got from place to place. But as it stands, it’s a very impressive, deeply moving film. Man, those are overused words, but they definitely apply.

I just scored a pass to The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford for Tuesday, which I'm impossibly excited for, so I'll be writing about that as soon as the words come together. Next weekend also sees the release of the new Wes Anderson movie, The Darjeeling Limited (you can read my pre-release thoughts here), as well as the new Clooney flick, Michael Clayton. It's really starting now.