Starring: Emile Hirsch, Marcia Gay Harden, William Hurt, Jena Malone, Brian Dierker Directed By: Sean Penn Average Rating: Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Audience Rating: R (Restricted) Binding: DVD Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC Label: Paramount Number of Items: 1 Region Code: 1 Release Date: March 04, 2008 Running Time: 148 minutes Theatrical Release Date: September 21, 2007
Product Description: This is the true story of Christopher McCandless (Emile Hirsch). Freshly graduated from college with a promising future ahead McCandless instead walked out of his privileged life and into the wild in search of adventure. What happened to him on the way transformed this young wanderer into an enduring symbol for countless people -- a fearless risk-taker who wrestled with the precarious balance between man and nature.System Requirements:Running Time: 148 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE/COMING OF AGE Rating: R UPC: 097363481249 Manufacturer No: 348124
Amazon.com: A superb cast and an even-handed treatment of a true story buoy Into the Wild, Sean Penn's screen adaptation of Jon Krakauer's bestselling book. Emile Hirsch stars as Christopher McCandless, scion of a prosperous but troubled family who, after graduating from Atlanta's Emory University in the early 1990s, decides to chuck it all and become a self-styled "aesthetic voyager" in search of "ultimate freedom." He certainly doesn't do it halfway: after donating his substantial savings account to charity and literally torching the rest of his cash, McCandless changes his name (to "Alexander Supertramp"), abandons his family (William Hurt and Marcia Gay Harden as his bickering, clueless parents and Jena Malone as his baffled but loving sister, who relates much of the backstory in voice-over), and hits the road, bound for the Alaskan bush and determined not to be found. For the next two years he lives the life of a vagabond, working a few odd jobs, kayaking through the Grand Canyon into Mexico, landing on L.A.'s Skid Row, and turning his back on everyone who tried to befriends him (including Catherine Keener and Brian Dierker as two kindly, middle-aged hippies and Hal Holbrook in a deeply affecting performance as an old widower who tries to take "Alex" under his wing). Penn, who directed and wrote the screenplay, alternates these interludes with scenes depicting McCandless' Alaskan idyll--which soon turns out be not so idyllic after all. Settling into an abandoned school bus, he manages to sustain himself for a while, shooting small game (and one very large moose), reading, and recording his existential musings on paper. But when the harsh realities of life in the wilderness set in, our boy finds himself well out of his depth, not just ill-prepared for the rigors of day to day survival but realizing the importance of the very thing he wanted to escape--namely, human relationships. It'd be easy to either idealize McCandless as a genuinely free spirit, unencumbered by the societal strictures that tie the rest of us down, or else dismiss him as a hopelessly callow naïf, a fool whose disdain for practical realities ultimately doomed him. Into the Wild does neither, for the most part telling the tale with an admirable lack of cheap sentiment and leaving us to decide for ourselves. --Sam Graham
Moving and Inspiring Just finished watching this film for the 2nd time. Cried like a baby both times. Between the direction, and Hirsch's, Keener's, Vaughn's (whom I usually can't stand) and (in my opinion) most notably Holbrook's performances, this has become one of my favorite films of the year. I know Holbrook's part was small, but he was amazing, and I really feel that he should have won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. Anyway, the scene with him and Hirsch in Ron's jeep is heartbreaking. When he asks Alex to let him adopt him, then realizing that he will never see Alex again, very sad. Kudos to Penn for his direction and screenplay.
Theories and conjecture I'm not going to theorize about why CM did what he did. I have no idea. I'm not privy to his mind and thus I have no way of knowing why he chose to do what he did. However, I will say this, I cannot, under any circumstances, fathom having the guts to walk into the wild and make a go of it. I can imagine it all day long but I doubt I could actually do it.
The movie is intense and amazing. It tells a wonderfully tragic story.
I'm incredibly tired of reading reviews of people bashing this man for his "ignorance". Of course he was. We all are. But what makes him unique is that he tried. He took a gamble and it didn't pay off as most people would hope. He still tried. So to all of the wonderful experts on survivalism and backcountry living.... take note... The Man was searching for something. We'll never know if he found it. Ultimately, something found him. Call it a wasted life but it wasn't your's to waste. It was his.
That being said... it is a very good Movie. Regardless of the assumed reasons for any of it.
Try to watch it.
I watched it in disbelief Coleridge taught us that to enjoy fiction, we need to have a "willing suspension of disbelief". But "Into the Wild" is supposed to be a "true" story: it should hang together (within the liberties required to compress years of plot into a couple of hours). What we get instead is Krakauer and Sean Penn's romanticization of a life and a death that make no sense. The viewer, like the family member of an alcoholic, starts in denial. When Chris McCandless buys rice, a book on native plants a 22 rifle and cartridges, we don't realize that that was ALL he took with him on his trek to the coast (no compass, no map, nothing to eat besides rice, no plan for what happens after he reaches the ocean). The author and director portray McCandless as a heroic youth (naive, perhaps, but heroic none the less).
However, about the time he settles down in an abandoned bus to starve to death because he realizes he cannot get back across the raging river I found myself asking questions like "How did the bus get there? Did it ford the raging river and climb the fifty foot bank, or did it perhaps come by the road? Why isn't this explorer following the bus tracks?" I left with the uncomfortable feeling that Chris McCandless was a pathetic figure, probably mentally ill, who ran off into the wilderness and died. My heart goes out to the McCandless family who have their loss portrayed for the masses but not before Penn has tarred their reputation and blamed them for Chris's problems (as nearly as I can tell from the internet accounts, the horrid parents are Penn's adaptation): as mental health professionals will tell you, mental illness is not the parent's fault.
Although the cinematography is great (the scenery is stunning) and much of the acting is first rate, my lasting impression of the movie is one of being in very poor taste. I feel like I owe the McCandless family an apology for having watched it.
Excellent If you watch the first 5 or so minutes, you might expect this movie to be lame, but it most certainly is not. Inspired by an amazing true story, it's a very powerful film about a guy you really want to learn about. Fine writing, fine acting, and amazing scenery. I'm impressed.
into the wild... 3.5 stars... christopher mc candless was a young man who tried to fit himself into the social system but always felt for something out there that called for him; something outside society and its bounds, deadlines, stress and the quest for buying more plastic made commodities and shiny gadgets. immersed in his world of music and books where he would find solace, he was a highly sensitive boy with a high intelligence. reading a lot of litterature without keeping your feet in the real world, creates a universe of idealism in which, the frustrated mind finds refuge. it's like a drug. the more you hide in that ideal world, the more frustrated and bitter you become when faced with the actual world we all live in: seeing his parents consent to live together despite their enormous differences, chris saw them as hypocrites, especially his mom, who, despite being betrayed by her husband, chooses to stay because of the comfort and security she got used to. after all, the husband is a NASA genius and we dont leave such a man because he slept with another woman. unmaterialistic to the farthest extent, chris was still planning to enter college but his parents deciding to reward him with a brand new car, was the last straw for the kid: he finds out that after all that time, his parents still didnt understand his personality and that he was never attracted by aquiring 'things' and that rewarding him with 'things' showed him how much his bickering parents cling to appearences. what happens next is chris, submerged in a tide of idealism leavs all behind, on a trek bound for alaska, as far as possible from social bonds, hypocrisy and materialism. he works in odd jobs, uses money as much as needed for his sustenance, and on his way, leaves a positive mark on the people he meets; a spirit who wills not to be ensnared by the ephemereal and tricky temptations of the modern world. while discovering the savage beauty of the nature around him, our hero will ultimately discover that happiness only has meaning when it's shared.. and since the whole world has become neck deep into dependance on modernity, his odds to meet a likeminded soul were equal to finding a winning lottery ticket on the ground. this meant he had to reintegrate society. his stubbornness to stay alone will lead him to his own demise: with little experience in the ways of survival, chris will be found dead by poisoning from inedible berries he ate by mistake. some people will be glad this kid who caused his family much suffering, met his just end, but the story is not about that; it's true that the character is too idealistic and ridden with flaws. he didnt seem to make efforts to help his parents have a better relationship, for example. he was too arrogant in the way that whenever he saw a glimpse of conformity and hypocrisy, he steered away without trying to do anything about it despite his obviously high intellignece and insight. he helped a foreign hippie couple overcome its differences while he could have done the same for his parents, but didnt. for all the flaws in chris' character, i dont see him as an example to follow, hence the rating of 3 over 5. the movie's strong point is reminding us that while we spend our life compromising, stressing out and tense about mortgages, due dates, deadlines and conformity, there's a beautiful world around us that we're failing to see. there's a peace we're missing, and a sense of eternity that's lost to us in our world ruled by intertwined timelines and purchase coupons. finally, eddie vedder and friends do a wonderful job with the soundtrack. the movie sports some truly amazing music. overall, this movie gently wakes us up to look around us and to notice the spirit , without alienating its audience with dumbed down philosophy and haughty lecturing. this is just a frustrated youth with some valid points that are worth exploring.
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